Budget Confrontation With Gov. Wolf In Connellsville Called A Political Set-Up
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Connellsville is an unlikely place for a political confrontation, but that's exactly what happened Tuesday when Gov. Tom Wolf was there.
It started when Fayette County Republican chairman David Show heard Wolf was coming to town.
"I put it out on social media," Show told KDKA political editor Jon Delano.
"I put it out on Facebook, and there are a lot of folks in this area, Republicans and Democrats, that are very upset with the governor and the budget process right now. And before we knew it, in a matter of hours basically, we had a lot of folks calling and showing up," he added.
The idea, says Show, was to tell Wolf how they felt about the budget.
"We just assumed it was a public building, it was a public meeting," said Show.
Turns out, it was a press conference.
Many people showed up here at this municipal building expecting a public hall town meeting with the governor.
But when the governor's security detail tossed them out of the building, they waited right on the sidewalk until the governor appeared after his press conference.
That heightened the subsequent confrontation.
Uniontown Republican committeeman Michael Cavanagh captured it on his phone and then posted it online.
"I'm very surprised it's gone all over the whole state," says Cavanagh. "It's very surprising to me, but people are paying attention now."
Wolf's staff says this was a political stunt engineered by Republicans.
"It appears that it was a set-up," says Jim Davis, chairman of the Fayette County Democratic Party.
"It appears that it was strictly partisan politics, and that's unfortunate because that's the biggest problem we have in Harrisburg -- partisan politics," adds Davis.
Davis says the treatment of the governor was questionable.
"I wouldn't have conducted myself in that fashion. I don't want to call them rude. I'll let the viewer be the judge," he said.
Show says it was just good citizens at work.
"It had absolutely nothing to do with the Republican party," says Show.
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter
