By Richard MacTough
Staff Writer

State Representative (RPA), Dr. Rick Saccone spoke with the ESU College Republicans last Sunday, Oct. 22. A couple months ago, he suspended his campaign for senator against Bob Casey (DPA).

He is now running for the eighteenth congressional district, replacing predecessor Tim Murphy. Murphy resigned after a scandal advising his mistress to get an abortion despite being pro-life.

“We are live at East Stroudsburg University with the College Republicans,” said Saccone said before he went live via social media announcing the event.

Saccone said President Donald Trump and him have similar platforms. He wants to lower taxes, cut regulations and decrease the size of government.

“People always say ‘Are you for Trump?’ I say ‘Is Trump for me?’ I was for Trump before he was Trump,” said Saccone.

Saccone advised the audience they are the next leaders. He believes young leaders should not start in politics as a career politician.

“You get corrupted by the swamp and by the establishment,” said Saccone.

Saccone talked about more about his personal experiences. He was in the United States air force and involved with interrogating members in Al-Qaeda.

He wrote a book defending the use of enhanced interrogation. It upsets him that Trump confuses torture with enhanced interrogation.

Saccone introduced the Stolen Valor act, House Bill 168, which would make it a misdemeanor to benefit from lying about serving in the military or receiving medals.

Saccone serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee. The state representative said Veterans Affairs is good in Pennsylvania, but is bad on a national level.

“About two weeks ago in Southern New Jersey, a veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder tried getting an appointment with doctors for months. He set himself on fire and killed himself,” stated Saccone. “That should never happen to our veterans.”

Saccone continued with being pro-life and “protecting the unborn”.

“We raised the bar on health inspections for abortion clinics in Pennsylvania. Since then, 11 abortion clinics have closed,” said Saccone.

The politician is for the second amendment of the right to bear arms. He has been rated A plus by the National Rifle Association.

“I have five pro-gun bills going through the legislation right now,” stated Saccone.

Saccone would like to get in congress and help President Trump “drain the swamp.”

“President Trump is trying to enact that agenda. But he is getting beat up. We see it in the news, and he needs some help,” said Saccone.

Saccone established what he calls “The big six.” He believes the democrats in the senate are a problem avoiding everything Trump wants to do.

“They will go against every Supreme Court Justice he [Trump] tries to put up. I can guarantee that,” said Saccone.

The second problem he continued is the bureaucracy. Big government he argues is unresponsive and they are trying to undermine Trump’s presidency.

“You see them leaking information and undermining the president,” said Saccone. He went on to say that bureaucracy needs to be handled on a state and national level.

The third thing that Saccone said is an issue are advocacy groups like Antifa. He explains they cause disruption and prevent action from being implemented.

The fourth problem in the United States is the media. He describes the liberal media as undermining Trump’s agenda and forcing it as already dead.

Hollywood is the fifth problem for Saccone in the government. He is concerned with their influence on American culture and the insults made to Trump.

“For some reason, they think because actors and actresses are very wealthy, that they have some knowledge of policy,” said Saccone.

Eminem, for example, recently rapped about Trump being against the American people.

The last main concern for Saccone was academia. Some of it includes liberal arts and humanities as being dominant and lacking conservative values.

“They are out there silencing free speech. Growing up we were taught to be tolerant of free speech. And that is why you can’t get conservative speakers to speak at these colleges,” said Saccone.

Earlier in the year Milo Yiannopoulos, associated with the alt-right, was prevented from speaking at Berkeley College earlier in the year.

Saccone closed his presentation with asking students about their concerns for the country and encouraged them to be actively involved.

Email Richard at:
rmactough@live.esu.edu