Last updated on February 21st, 2017 at 08:26 am
Doubling down on a campaign promise made during his 2014 run for Congress, Art Robinson went on the offensive, saying if elected to Congress, he would sponsor a bill banning trick-or-treating nationwide.
In 2014, he addressed a campaign event that had been planned by the Democratic Party of Lane County. His opponent, Peter DeFazio, and his supporters had been out knocking on doors Halloween night encouraging people to vote.
This year, Art Robinson told a crowd of about 200 supporters at a rally in Yoncalla that he will introduce legislation to gradually phase out trick-or-treating over the next four years.
The proposal allows children to trick-or-treat between the hours of 5:00-9:00 p.m. on Oct. 31, 2017, and shortening it by one hour each year until it is phased out completely in 2021.
“Years of children going door to door, dressed as devils, vampires and superheroes and collecting candy have led to this entitlement mentality the younger generations have,” said Robinson back in 2014.
He added, “We must utilize every possible means to bring a halt to the liberal agenda of free handouts. You know, we have millions of hard working, minimum-wage earning Americans collecting food stamps; millions more on Obamacare. The free rides have to stop!”
ThIs strategy backfired on Art Robinson, however. Peter DeFazio’s campaign reported the Hershey Corporation contributed $1.2 million to his campaign, followed by American Pumpkin Growers PAC with $750,000. Even mobile game developer King, creators of Candy Crush Saga, contributed $250,000 to DeFazio.
However, Robinson has a new ally in his quest to ban the Halloween tradition: Donald Trump.
Trump plans to announce his support Robinson of proposed legislation at a rally in Florida this Friday.
In a response to an email from That Oregon Life, Trump said, “Banning trick-or-treating is a keystone of my agenda to Make America Great Again. We need to eliminate handouts one at a time. After we succeed in eliminating trick-or-treating, our next goal is to put the squash on Easter egg hunts. It’ll be a beautiful thing, and the children of America will be happy! You’ll see!”
We at That Oregon Life will keep you posted on any further developments with this issue should Robinson actually get elected.
