Over the weekend, Scott Wagner was endorsed by alt right leader Steve Bannon at an ultra-conservative conference in St. Louis. When he was first asked about this yesterday, Scott Wagner told the York Dispatch that it was just a “coincidence” that they were going to the same rally. But later the same day, Wagner admitted to the PIttsburgh Post-Gazette that he asked Steve Bannon to “plane-pool” with him on a chartered flight out of Baltimore, according to NBC10.
“Why did Scott Wagner lie about his budding friendship with white supremacist and anti-semite Steve Bannon who also wants to strip health insurance from millions of people and take away a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions?” asked Beth Melena, communications director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “Does Scott Wagner realize that the white supremacist, anti-semitic, anti-women, and pro-Trump views that he shares with Steve Bannon are far too extreme for the people of Pennsylvania? Scott Wagner jet-setting around with the leader of America’s Alt Right movement, Steve Bannon, isn’t surprising, but it is certainly troubling.”
BACKGROUND
“Wagner told The York Dispatch his meeting with Bannon was just a coincidence. ‘I was going to this rally, and he was there,’ he said.” [York Dispatch, 9/27/17]
“In a Tuesday phone interview, Mr. Wagner said that he was planning to attend the forum and then “found out through somebody that they got Steve Bannon to speak.’ He extended an invitation to Mr. Bannon to share a chartered flight. ‘It’s called plane-pooling, like car-pooling.’” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/27/17]
“Wagner said Bannon asked him a lot of questions on their flight together to St. Louis, which Wagner chartered from Baltimore.” [NBC10, 9/27/17]