Former Gov. Paul LePage is back from Florida and running for a third term as Maine governor, the public face of the state of Maine and its chief executive. If you have forgotten who Paul LePage is, allow him to reintroduce himself in his own words. Here are a few of his numerous statements that made state, national and international news when he was governor for eight years. Warning: the following is not appropriate reading for minors.
To the Maine NAACP on not attending the Martin Luther King national holiday ceremony: “Tell them to kiss my ass” (2011).
Justifying his opposition to the Legislature’s efforts to prohibit the human hormone disruptor, BPA, in plastic drink containers: “So the worst case is some women may have little beards” (2011).
The governor’s comments at York Community College in 2012 trashing Maine’s public school system and educators: “If you want a good education, go to a private school. If you can’t afford it, tough luck. You can go to public school.”
Regarding Sen. Troy Jackson of Aroostook County: “Senator Jackson claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline” (2014).
To reporters outside his office in 2016: “Let me tell you something, black people come up the highway and they kill Mainers.”
Who LePage is, is best captured by his 2016 boast: “I was Trump before Trump was Trump.”
The above is just the tip of the iceberg. There are simply too many vulgar insults and school-yard bully rants to list here. Other LePage targets included the poor, Native Americans, state employees, independent and moderate Republican legislators, and more.
If LePage wins a third term, hang-on, it will be four years of state government turmoil and instability.
George Seel
Belgrade
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