In the least surprising admission since Shaggy finally ‘fessed up that it was, indeed, him, Maine Governor Paul LePage has come clean about the poorly-hidden meaning behind a self-evidently racist remark he made several weeks ago.

Addressing reporters about the epidemic of drug addiction afflicting the region, LePage made the following observation about certain types of drug dealers, and the white girls they impregnate:

“The traffickers — these aren’t people that take drugs. These are guys with that are named D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty, these types of guys, that come from Connecticut and New York. They come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we that we’ve go to deal with down the road.”

LePage would later deny that the remark was racist at all, specifically pointing to the fact that he “never said they were black!”

During a radio interview Tuesday, LePage said they were black:

I had to go scream at the top of my lungs about Black dealers coming in and doing the things that they’re doing to our state. I had to scream about guillotines and those types of things before they were embarrassed into giving us a handful of DEA agents. That is what it takes with this 127th.

File that, not just under “obvious,” but under “Things to Remember Next Time Someone Tries to Deny Their Own Coded Racism.”

(h/t Atlanta Black Star)

Maine Governor Paul LePage went on a rather strange tangent at the GOP state party convention yesterday about foreign workers in the United States.

He said it’s hard to understand workers who come from Bulgaria, and the workers from India are “the worst ones” to understand.

He added that Indians are “lovely people, but you’ve got to have an interpreter.”

LePage got in trouble a few months ago for his extended riff on black drug dealers impregnating white girls.

You can watch WABI’s report on LePage’s remarks above.

[h/t TPM]
[image via screengrab]

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Ann LePage, the first lady of Maine, is working as a waitress this summer, joining the many, many other state residents who are looking for summer jobs.

LePage, currently waitressing at McSeaGull’s, said people were really surprised––the ones who recognized her, at least––but said this is something she’s always wanted to do.

And she had no problem saying this is all about just making a little extra cash to buy a car this summer.

It turns out that Paul LePage‘s governor’s salary––$70K––makes him the lowest-paid governor in the country.

Watch WGME’s report above.

[h/t Reuters]
[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

In an interview with the Portland Press Herald, Donald Trump affirmed that achieving world peace “would be the best deal,” and that he “would know how to do it better than anybody else.”

Speaking to the Herald‘s Scott Thistle shortly before taking the stage for a rally in Portland, Maine Thursday, Trump discussed his admiration for Maine Gov. Paul LePage, affirmed that he would not exit the race, admitted that he had a “little bit of a strategy” for campaigning in Maine, and boasted that he was the only dealmaker capable of bringing about “peace all over the world.”

“I hear we are polling very well in Maine. I think we are going to do well in Maine, you know, we’ll see,” he said. (Clinton is actually leading Trump by 7 points in the most recent Maine poll.)

Asked about the best deal he could possibly make, Trump did not think small.

Q: What would be the best deal you could negotiate as president of the United States?

A: Peace all over the world would be the best deal. And I think I would know how to do it better than anybody else, but peace all over the world.

You can read the complete interview at the Press Herald.

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Sam Reisman (@thericeman) is a staff editor at Mediaite.

Eternally controversial Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage once again made a comment that critics are blasting as insensitive and derogatory towards people of color.

LePage drew outrage earlier this year after complaining that drug dealers in Maine had names like “D-Money” and impregnate white girls:

“These aren’t the people who take drugs. These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty. These type of guys. They come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we’ve got to deal with down the road.”

When asked about those comments in a town hall Wednesday night, LePage doubled down. He insisted that he kept a binder with the picture of every drug dealer in Maine, and nearly all were minorities.

This was the comment made by LePage tonight about a collection of pictures he says he has of drug dealers in Maine. pic.twitter.com/AusJXSN0i2

— Morgan Sturdivant (@MSturdivantWMTW) August 25, 2016

“I don’t ask them to come to Maine to sell their poison, but they come. And I will tell you, that 90-plus percent of those pictures in my book — and it’s a three-ring binder — are black and Hispanic people from Waterbury, Connecticut, the Bronx, and Brooklyn,” he insisted.

Watch above, via WMTM.

[Image via Shutterstock]
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>>Follow Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) on Twitter

After a series of questionable comments put him back in the spotlight, Paul LePage unloaded on a state lawmaker when the Maine governor sent him a threatening and profane voicemail that he challenged him with taking public.

The Maine governor is known for having a bombastic style, and he recently drew attention again for offering questionable comments about race while speaking about drug crime. According to Portland Press Herald, Democratic Rep. Drew Gattine was one of several legislators who called out LePage’s remarks as racist, though Gattine denied doing so later on.

A reporter for Press Herald ended up speaking with LePage and asked for his response to those who’ve given him the “racist” label. Lepage demanded who called him that, and he stormed off after the reporter indicated that he previously spoke with Gattine.

“I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you c*cksucker,” LePage said in a message to Gattine. “I want to talk to you. I want you to prove that I’m a racist.”

WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.

LePage later invited the Press Herald to his house, where he continued to rail against the “snot-nosed little guy” and say he would’ve loved challenging Gattine to a duel.

“That’s how angry I am, and I would not put my gun in the air, I guarantee you, I would not be (Alexander) Hamilton. I would point it right between his eyes, because he is a snot-nosed little runt and he has not done a damn thing since he’s been in this Legislature to help move the state forward.”

UPDATE – 12:14 p.m. ET: The governor has released a public statement regarding his explosive comments:

.@Governor_LePage issues statement about voicemail he left for Rep. Gattine: pic.twitter.com/d3rgUXPKnK

— Hannah Lilly (@hannah_lilly) August 26, 2016

[Image via screengrab]

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>> Follow Ken Meyer (@KenMeyer91) on Twitter

As Maine Governor Paul LePage endures fallout from controversial comments he made over the past week, he has decided to up the ante once again by apparently referring to Black and Hispanic people as “the enemy.”

The governor of Maine is known for having a brusque way of dealing with people, which was on full display recently when he sent a profane, threatening voice message to a state legislator whom LePage believed called him a racist. The supposed criticism came after LePage said minority groups make up the vast majority of drug dealers in Maine, and he appeared to double down on that statement during a Friday press conference.

Suspected white supremacists governor of Maine Paul LePage stops talking in code & says Blacks are the enemy pic.twitter.com/qupifMd5Dq

— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) August 27, 2016

“Look, a bad guy is a bad guy, I don’t care what color it is. When you go to war, if you know the enemy, the enemy dresses in red and you dress in blue, you shoot at red, don’t you? You shoot at the enemy. You try to identify the enemy. And the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority right now coming in are people of color or people of Hispanic origin. I can’t help that. I just can’t help it. Those are the facts.”

Huffington Post reports that LePage also used the event to profusely deny that Maine’s police engages in racial profiling. HuffPo also noted that American Civil Liberties Union of Maine said on Thursday that their research tells them that Black and White people deal drugs at similar rates.

[Image via screengrab]

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>> Follow Ken Meyer (@KenMeyer91) on Twitter

The embattled Republican governor of Maine admitted during a radio show interview this morning that perhaps it’s time to call it quits.

First reported by the Portland Press Herald, the exchange came from Paul LePage on WVOM, a radio station in Bangor, in light of another controversy surrounding a profanity-laced voicemail he left for a state legislator.

LePage said Tuesday, “I’m looking at all options… I think some things I’ve been asked to do are beyond my ability. I’m not going to say that I’m not going to finish it. I’m not saying that I am going to finish it.”

LePage continued, “If I’ve lost my ability to help Maine people, maybe it’s time to move on.”

He also apologized to that sate lawmaker, Rep. Drew Gattine, for the voicemail where the governor casually asserted last week that Gattine was a “son-of-a-bitch socialist cocksucker.” You know, standard state gubernatorial stuff. The tirade stemmed from LePage thinking that Gattine called him a racist.

The governor admitted further Tuesday, “When I was called a racist I just lost it, and there’s no excuse. It’s unacceptable. It’s totally my fault.”

In January, the governor first came under fire for remarks he made at a town hall regarding drug trafficking in and out of the state. He said of the drug dealers, “These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty – these types of guys – they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home.”

Then, he doubled down just a bit more: “Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.”

Most recently — and likely the inciting incident to the Gattine fiasco — was an episode last week where LePage offered, “the enemy right now… are people of color or people of Hispanic origin”.

He heartily continued, “I don’t ask them to come to Maine and sell their poison, but they come and I will tell you that 90-plus percent of those pictures in my book, and it’s a three-ringed binder, are black and Hispanic people from Waterbury, Connecticut, the Bronx and Brooklyn.”

UPDATE – 1:03 a.m. ET: LePage put out a tweet today in response to those who took his interview comments to mean that his resignation is imminent:

Regarding rumors of resignation, to paraphrase Mark Twain: "The reports of my political demise are greatly exaggerated." #mepolitics

— Paul R. LePage (@Governor_LePage) August 30, 2016

Paul LePage stated Wednesday morning that he will not, in fact, be resigning as Maine’s Governor any time soon.

Whisperings of LePage’s removal have spread throughout the Internet after a radio interview where he suggested that it might soon be time for him to step aside. The comments came after a week of controversy, where Lepage not only used objectionable language when speaking about drug-dealing criminals, but also went on a profane, threatening tirade against a state official after thinking his remarks were criticized as “racist.”

CBS 13’s Brad Rogers was invited to LePage’s office to film him today, just after the governor apologized to the lawmaker to whom he sent his controversial voicemail. LePage spoke about how being called “racist” by people is a “cheap political stunt” that deeply troubles him, and he insisted “[he] will not resign” over the flap.

LePage said he will seek “spiritual guidance” after the recent commotion, though he flatly dismissed the idea critics have floated about how he needs “professional help.” After continuing to defend his remarks and say that he has made the proper apologies, LePage said he won’t be talking directly to the media ever again.

“I will no longer speak to the press ever again after today,” said LePage “And I’m serious. Everything will be put in writing. I am tired of being caught, the gotcha moments.”

Watch above (start at 2:00), via Brad Rogers‘ Facebook Page.

[Image via screengrab]

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>> Follow Ken Meyer (@KenMeyer91) on Twitter

There’s been a lot of talk about Donald Trump being an authoritarian strongman, all of it negative. But the governor of Maine apparently thinks that is a positive attribute America needs.

In audio obtained by CNN’s KFILE, Paul LePage told a Maine radio station today, “Sometimes, I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken, but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law because we’ve had eight years of a president, he’s an autocrat, he just does it on his own, he ignores Congress and every single day, we’re slipping into anarchy.”

(Left out of that was whether an authoritarian would necessarily listen to Congress more than President Obama.)

Regarding that recent Trump audio, he said there’s a clear difference between Clinton and the “blue dress” and what Trump said. He did admit, “Is he a slimeball? I’d be the first one to say, not a guy ideally I’d want my daughter going after. But I will tell you one thing. As the head of state, is he going to protect our nation and fight the debt or is he going to go after interns? That’s the bottom line.”

You can listen to the full LePage audio above.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

Maine Governor Paul LePage today had to clarify what he meant yesterday when he said he wouldn’t mind President Donald Trump exerting some “authoritarian power.”

Yesterday LePage said, “Sometimes, I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken, but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law.”

He explained at a presser today, “Instead of using the word ‘authoritative,’ I used the word ‘authoritarian.'”

LePage talked up why he wants a strong leader like Trump in office and lamented how much America is going “down the tubes.”

He did go on to call President Obama a “dictator.”

Watch above, via WGME’s Brad Rogers.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

Maine Governor Paul LePage said in an interview Wednesday, “When Hillary opens her mouth, people die,” in audio acquired by CNN’s KFile.

LePage was drawing a distinction between Trump’s propensity for vulgarity — “OK, my grandmother’s around, she gives him bar soap to clean his mouth out,” he said — and Clinton.

Though, the observation about what comes out of people’s mouths is curious coming from the gaffe–prone Republican governor, who only Tuesday said that Trump needed to “show some authoritarian power.” (On Wednesday he claimed he meant “authoritative.”)

LePage is an outspoken supporter of Trump who shares the real estate mogul’s habit of using inflammatory rhetoric and his antipathy for the press because it chooses to report on him. “I am tired of being caught, the gotcha moments,” he said in August.

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Sam Reisman (@thericeman) is a staff editor at Mediaite.

Republican governor of Maine Paul LePage said that the results of the election would be invalid due to the lack of voter ID laws.

LePage, an outspoken Trump supporter, agreed with the GOP nominee that the results of the election would be rigged. Speaking to WVOM, in a interview flagged by CNN’s KFILE, LePage said that his state was not going to have a clean election.

“The left, the Democratic party, insists on not having IDs. And will people from the cemetery be voting? Yes. All around the country. The media and the Democratic party want everybody to vote whether they’re citizens or not.”

Like his preferred presidential candidate, LePage has a long history of making inflammatory comments and blaming the media.

In echoing Trump’s contentious, and baseless, claims that the election will be rigged, LePage is distinguishing himself from many GOP leaders, including Trump’s running mate Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who have tried to downplay Trump’s efforts to undermine confidence in the election. (Pence said that the media, not the polling, was rigged.)

Until and unless voter ID laws were instituted nationally, LePage said, “I don’t think that elections in the state of Maine or in the United States are legitimate.”

In a conversation on a Maine radio show today, Maine Governor Paul LePage, a fervent Donald Trump supporter, said the GOP presidential nominee made a “stupid move” when he told debate moderator Chris Wallace that he’d hold the country in suspense on whether he’d accept next month’s election results.

“I think that’s an absolute stupid move,” LePage told the radio host when asked about Trump’s debate answer.

“Donald, take your licks and move on four years,” the guv continued.

After the host asked him if he thought it was a mistake for Trump to say the election is rigged, LePage gave the following response:

“Not accepting the results, I think, is a stupid comment. I mean, come on, get over yourself!”

Now, LePage still endorsed much of what Trump has been saying about a rigged system, stating that Hillary Clinton has the “inside Beltway people and the media” helping her, so it is nearly impossible for the real estate mogul to win.

Meanwhile, Trump said today that he’d accept the election results — if he wins.

Check out audio of the interview above, via BuzzFeed.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

Paul LePage is back, baby!

It’s been far too long since we’ve last gotten to write about the embattled Maine Republican Governor who puts his foot in his mouth so often that he could floss with his own shoe laces. He once suggested that Donald Trump “show some authoritarian power” (though later claimed he used the wrong word), casually asserted that an adversary was a “socialist cocksucker,” in a wild voicemail, and alleged that drug dealers by the names D-Money, Smoothie, and Shifty come into Maine for their nefarious activities.

And now, LePage is adding to his collection of best hits by taking on Democratic Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who announced last week that he thinks Trump’s presidency is “illegitimate” and that he would not attend the Inauguration.

During a radio interview with WVOM-FM, LePage asked the Civil Rights leader Lewis to reconsider who really deserves the credit for the successes of racial equality. “I will just say this: John Lewis ought to look at history,” LePage said.

He promptly continued, “It was Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves, it was Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses S. Grant who fought against Jim Crow laws. A simple thank you would suffice.”

The comments were made on the George Hale and Ric Tyler Show.

In the same interview, LePage alleged that Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine — who also announced she would not attend the Swearing-In ceremony this week — should “resign” her position as a result. Listen above via WVOM-FM.
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Maine governor Paul LePage is continuing his crusade against drug crime by suggesting that convicted felons will be banned from receiving welfare benefits.

The Republican governor is known for his hardline, controversial rhetoric when it comes to drug-dealing minorities. LePage has recently proposed that the state legislature cut funding for its General Assistance program, which helps illegal immigrants and other poor Mainers in getting the basic life necessities.

According to NECN, LePage’s office is now proposing that convicted drug felons should be barred from food stamps and various forms of cash assistance. LePage also reportedly planned to institute suspicion-based drug testing for welfare recipients, but the Maine Sun Journal says that plan has been discarded.

LePage’s plan comes as Maine legalizes recreational marijuana, and his proposal is facing criticism from those saying he is stigmatizing low-income households and drug offenders.

[Image via screengrab]

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>> Follow Ken Meyer (@KenMeyer91) on Twitter

Despite the fact that President Donald Trump has only been in the White House for roughly three months, we’ve already grown quite accustomed to POTUS going off script during official events. And today was no exception.

During a signing ceremony for an executive order that will reduce federally protected land, Trump began name-calling a number of elected officials in attendance. And in one particular instance, Trump wanted to highlight a noticeable physical change.

“Governor LePage of Maine who, by the way, has lost a lot of weight,” the president noted. “I knew him when he was heavy and now I know him when he’s thin and I like him both ways.”

He added, “What a great job!”

LePage, an early and fervent supporter of Trump’s during the campaign, revealed in January that he had lost 50 pounds after undergoing bariatric surgery the previous fall. He stated at the time that he had the procedure done because his doctor told him he needed to lose weight or risk diabetes.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

Maine Governor Paul LePage went on WGAN-AM Thursday to talk about a recent partial government shutdown amidst a budget impasse and spiraled into a takedown of the media.

LePage got mad that local media had reported he was going to leave the state on vacation during the budget crisis, saying it was totally not true.

“Give me a break guys! This is when you know it’s not about the press, it’s not about reporting, it’s about poking a certain person in the eyes for six and a half years. Shame on them. They’re so bad,” LePage said.

The media reported LePage was going on a ten-day vacation, despite his spokesperson saying that was false, and “100% fake news.”

“The press just ran with it. They’re so so vile and inaccurate,” LePage said. “I just love to sit in my office and make up ways so they’ll write these stupid stories because they are just so stupid, it’s awful. The sooner the print press goes away, the better society will be. They’re useless.”

This is not LePage’s first attack on the media. In the past, LePage has joked about shooting a newspaper cartoonist and that he would blow up the Portland Press Herald.

This morning, President Donald Trump went on a mini-tweetstorm decrying the removal of monuments to Confederate figures, echoing comments he made earlier in the week when he asked if George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were next as they were slave owners.

Well, one Republican governor and fervent Trump supporter decided to take Trump’s position and turn it up a notch.

In an interview with WGAN-AM today, Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) parroted Trump’s “both sides” comments on the violence in Charlottesville, stating that he condemns both sides and find them “disgusting.” However, when it came to left-wing protesters wanting to take down monuments glorifying the Confederacy, LePage compared them to the “Taliban.”

He also claimed that removing statues of Confederate generals would be akin to getting rid of a 9/11 memorial.

“How can future generations learn if we’re going to erase history? That’s disgusting,” LePage observed. “They should study their history — they don’t even know the history of this country and they are trying to take monuments down.”

The governor added, “Listen, whether we like it or not, this is what our history is. And it’s just — to me, it’s just like going to New York City right now and taking down the monument of those who perished in 9/11. It will come to that.”

LePage is known for shooting from the hip and tossing out controversial and inflammatory rhetoric. He once described “the enemy” as black and Hispanic while talking about drug dealers, adding that you “shoot the enemy.” He also once said that civil rights icon John Lewis should thank white people for civil rights equality.

Listen to the audio above, via WGAN-AM (the relevant part begins around 1:30).

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

GovernorPaul LePage (R-ME) has certified the results of a district race, but he did so with commentary calling it a “stolen election.”

Democrat Jared Golden defeated Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s 2nd district congressional race. The race got some national attention due to the state’s ranked choice system and Poliquin’s lawsuit challenging it.

Poliquin challenged the constitutionality of the system, but a federal judge rejected the argument. The congressman ended up conceding earlier this week.

The outgoing governor signed the election certificate today, but he tweeted, “I’ve signed off on the CD2 election result as it’s no longer in federal court. Ranked Choice Voting didn’t result in a true majority as promised-simply a plurality measured differently. It didn’t keep big money out of politics & didn’t result in a more civil election #mepolitics”

And the certificate itself contains a note from LePage reading “stolen election”:

I’ve signed off on the CD2 election result as it’s no longer in federal court. Ranked Choice Voting didn’t result in a true majority as promised-simply a plurality measured differently. It didn’t keep big money out of politics & didn’t result in a more civil election #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/0fEhD1dvAb

— Paul R. LePage (@Governor_LePage) December 28, 2018

Golden responded in a tweet criticizing the governor:

Not only are the Governor’s comments wrong, this is yet another attempt by the Maine GOP to undermine the will of Mainers, who twice voted to approve RCV. Maine people are tired of this kind of poor leadership — which is why they voted for sweeping change in November. #mepolitics https://t.co/aMDBj1Onnc

— Jared Golden (@golden4congress) December 28, 2018

[image via screengrab]