Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

Republican governor candidate Scott Wagner isn't afraid to speak his mind - we all know that by now.

But has the York County politician now gone too far?

Wagner, a former state senator who's challenging Gov. Tom Wolf in November, is being criticized by Democrats this Thursday morning for sharing a story during a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre that compares undocumented immigrants and Muslims to a raccoon infestation that only President Donald Trump can clean up.

The anecdote was first published in March 2016 on the white-nationalist site InfoWars, run by activist Alex Jones, and it has since cost one public official who repeated it his job.

At that Sept. 12 event in Wilkes-Barre, Wagner told the crowd that he wanted to "read a story someone sent to me, and listen, every time I turn on the TV I hear Donald Trump this, Donald Trump did that [...] This story came around and I'm going to tone it down a little bit, but it's a great story. It's the raccoon story."

The lengthy anecdote, which complains that America is "becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is part of a special group with special rights," was attributed to an anonymous, 80-year-old author who wanted to explain why he planned to support then-candidate Trump.

"This country is weak, bankrupt, our enemies are making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegal aliens and bringing tens of thousands of Muslim refugees to America, while leaving Christians behind to be persecuted. We are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is part of a special group with special rights, to the point where we don't even recognize the country we were born and raised in; "AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED" and Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want," the original piece reads, in part.

A Facebook video posted by Wagner's campaign shows the Republican candidate repeating the "Tom, Ricardo and Hasid," line, but it leaves out the more incendiary content about Muslim refugees and "illegal aliens."

Wagner's "toned down" version of the anecdote instead focuses on a familiar campaign theme: That Harrisburg - and state government - is broken, and that, he, like Trump, is best positioned to clean it up.

Mike Mikus, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, called Wagner's comments "repugnant and racist. This just shows he has no business ever serving in public office again."

In an emailed statement, Wagner remained unapologetic, insisting that the racoons were not a metaphor for "any type of person," as they were in the original InfoWars piece

Rather, he said "they represent the problems. And the voters want someone who can solve their problems."

Here is the full text of Wagner's statement:

"I've always said that if you want the perfect candidate who is politically correct then you shouldn't vote for me," he said. "The story I read last week, to me, is an analogy that illustrates voters don't really care what types of flaws their leaders have, as long as they are getting things done for the people they serve. The raccoons do not represent any type of person - they represent the problems. And the voters want someone who can solve their problems. That is how I will approach my governorship. Tom Wolf wants to run negative ads to distract people from their problems and I want to roll up my sleeves, get to work, and make change."

In February, the politically radioactive anecdote forced the resignation of a local official in New Jersey. The official, Mendham Township Deputy Mayor Rick Blood, was faced down by angry protesters at a township meeting, NJ.com reported.

Watch the video:

Addressing supporters in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Join The Team Here: https://action.scottwagnerforpa.com/join_team-25159/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=117806&utm_medium=petition&utm_term=koin-team&utm_content=null Posted by Scott Wagner on Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Here is a partial transcript of Wagner's remarks:

"I'm going to read a story someone sent to me, and listen, every time I turn on the TV I hear Donald Trump this, Donald Trump did that [...] This story came around and I'm going to tone it down a little bit, but it's a great story. It's the raccoon story.

" ...You've been on vacation for weeks. You come home and your basement is infested with raccoons. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement.

"You want them gone immediately. You call the city. You call four different exterminators, but nobody can handle the job. But there's this one guy and he guarantees to get rid of them, so you hire him. You don't care if the guy smells and

"I'm not referring to Donald Trump here, but I'm referring to the raccoon guy. You don't care if the guy smells, you don't care if the guy swears and you don't care if he drinks a lot and you don't care how many time he's been married. You don't care if he has a plumbers crack.

"You simply want the raccoons gone. You want the problem fixed, he's the guy, he's the best period. That's the raccoon guy. Here's why we want Trump. Yeah he's got faults and I'm not going to read exactly what's on here, but we really don't care.This county is mess because politicians suck.

"The Democrats and Republicans can be two-faced and gutless. And we've got lots of problems here, we want it all fixed.

"We don't care that Trump is crude, we don't care that he insults people and we don't care that he's changed positions, we don't care how many times he's been married, we don't care that he fights with Megyn Kelly or Rosie O'Donnell, we don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslim terrorist. This country is weak, bankrupt, our enemies are making fun of us.

"We are being invaded."

The rest of the day's news starts now.

In a 'misleading' new commercial, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick tries to tie opponent Scott Wallace to the convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, The Inquirer reports.

Democratic 4th CD candidate Madeleine Dean plans to file an amended campaign finance report reflecting the fact that her husband's bicycle company's has ties to a Taiwan-based company that makes bikes in mainland China, The Inquirer also reports.

Meet the Adams County lawmaker who had the worst idea of the week.

The policy differences between GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Perry and Democratic challenger George Scott were thrown into sharp relief during an event in York, PennLive's Charlie Thompson reports.

Here's your #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day:

Former Senate GOP Chief Counsel Steve MacNett, who was sometimes referred to as the "51st Senator" during his long career in the chamber, has died, aged 71. Our most profound condolences to his friends and family.

WHYY-FM looks at a new golf-cart taxi service in Wilmington, Del.

The suburban Allentown cop charged with shooting an unarmed man is due in court, The Morning Call reports.

Speaking of George Scott, he's up with a new ad (via PoliticsPA).

And now you're up to date.