GOP House candidate Rick Saccone said at his final rally before the Pennsylvania special election that “the other side” has shown a “hatred” for the country, President Trump and God.
“They say the other side is energized. Let me tell you, they’re energized for hate for our president,” Saccone said, first reported by NBC News.
“I’ve talked to so many of these on the left. And they have a hatred for our president. I tell you, many of them have a hatred for our country,” he continued.
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“I’ll tell you some more — my wife and I saw it again today, they have a hatred for God.”
It’s unclear if there was a specific occurrence to which Saccone was referring.
Saccone is facing off against Democrat Conor Lamb in Tuesday’s special House election to replace Rep. Tim Murphy (Pa.), who resigned last year after reports emerged that he had encouraged a woman with whom he was having an affair to get an abortion.
Lamb is leading Saccone by 6 points, according to a Monmouth University poll released Monday. A RealClearPolitics average of surveys finds the Democrat leading by 2 points.
Trump won the district by nearly 20 points in the 2016 election, and Murphy, a Republican, had held the seat since 2003.
Trump stumped for Saccone, a state representative, at a rally on Saturday night. The president endorsed the candidate at the event, but largely spent the rally discussing his own accomplishments.
Axios reported on Sunday that Trump had privately slammed Saccone as a “weak” and bad candidate ahead of the rally.