WATERVILLE (AP) – Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s joke about shooting a political cartoonist is falling flat.
The son of Bangor Daily News cartoonist George Danby said LePage made the remark after he asked what the governor thought of his father’s cartoons Wednesday during an event at Dirigo Boys State, a youth leadership program.
Anthony Ronzio, the newspaper’s news and audience director, said the joke wasn’t funny, especially after the killing of cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. He has asked the governor for an apology and was told by communications director Peter Steele that LePage would “take care of it personally.”
The governor’s office had no immediate comment.
LePage has frequently made his disdain for newspapers clear and once joked about blowing up offices of the Portland Press Herald.
The 68th Annual Dirigo Boys State program was held June 21-25 at Thomas College in Waterville.
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