against standardized testing. Wagner supported leasing Pennsylvania's wholesale liquor industry and privatizing the sale of alcohol, using $500 million in projected savings for education programs. He expressed support for "clear sentencing and bail guidelines" but did not endorse the elimination of cash bail. Wagner also pledged to reverse Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty, supporting restoration of capital punishment in Pennsylvania. Regarding the opioid epidemic, Wagner said that if elected governor, he would sue pharmaceutical companies. Wagner proposed the creation of a fund to extent loans to people, especially those in poor communities, to open new businesses; he also criticized the state's existing public assistance programs. In a 2018 campaign appearance, a student challenged Wagner's claim that climate change is being caused by human body heat and asked whether his belief was the result of the money he received from the fossil fuel industry. Wagner responded by calling the student "young and naive" and said that Pennsylvanians are trying to elect a governor, not a scientist. In the November 2018 election, Wagner was easily defeated by Wolf. Wagner spent more than $23 million on his primary campaign and $22 million on his general election campaign. Wagner self-funded most of his campaign, and was his own largest contributor. Republican Party financing and Trump support A lifelong member of the Republican Party, Wagner has donated more than $3.2 million to state and local campaigns since 2007. Wagner is a supporter of President Donald Trump. Wagner has compared himself to Trump, and similarities of style have been commented upon by others. Wagner expressed support for the Trump travel ban and called the Russia investigation "a lot of propaganda." Trump endorsed Wagner for governor in 2018. Wagner and the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Lou Barletta, appeared with Trump at an October 2018 rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. Antisemitism controversies In 2017, Wagner denounced billionaire businessman and political donor George Soros (a U.S. citizen since 1961) as a "Hungarian Jew" who has a "hatred for America." Wagner rejected calls from Jewish and Christian clergy asking him to apologize for the remarks, and the Democratic Party in the state denounced his comments as anti-Semitic. In September 2018, Wagner approvingly cited an anonymous anecdote circulating on the conspiratorial website InfoWars that complained that "America is 'becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is part of a special group with special rights." Personal life