“I think some things I’ve been asked to do are beyond my ability”, he said, noting the mounting pressure he had received from fellow Maine politicians in recent days.
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Speaking about Maine’s effort to combat drug crime, Paul LePage said that “the enemy right now… are people of colour or people of Hispanic origin”. Paul LePage said Tuesday that he plans to meet with a Democratic lawmaker to try to make amends for leaving an obscene voicemail message and that he isn’t ruling out resigning.
Mr LePage called Mr Gattine and, when he was unable to reach him, left him an abusive, expletive-laden voice message.
LePage also told the radio hosts that his family has borne the brunt of angry and pornographic emails following his outburst.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers censure isn’t an option. At a rally planned for this evening at Capital Park in Augusta, attendees are expected to do the same. “Volk recognizes the severity of the problem presented by the governor’s current state, whether it is caused, as she puts it, “by substance abuse, mental illness or just ignorance”, the joint statement from House Speaker Mark Eves, House majority leaders Sara Gideon, Jeff McCabe and Senate minority leaders Justin Alfond and Dawn Hill stated. LePage is being accused again of making racially insensitive comments, this time by saying photos he’s collected in a binder of drug dealers arrested in the state show more than 90 percent of them are black or Hispanic.
Drew Gattine – the man on the receiving end of a vulgar voicemail from LePage last week – told CNN’s “New Day” LePage matches his buddy Trump for insanity.
“When you go to war… and the enemy dresses in red and you dress in blue, then you shoot at red”, he said. LePage says he takes it “very seriously” when someone calls him a racist.
Governor Paul LePage of ME said on Tuesday he might not finish his second term in office less than a week after he called people of color “the enemy” and threatened a state lawmaker. “It’s a fact. What do you want me to lie?” Given LePage’s m.o., it seems just as likely the Maine Republican will wait a while, see if the controversy fades from public view, and hope people lose interest in his self-inflicted wounds. “It’s not something that I’ve ever called anybody”, he said.
Rep. Kevin Battle, a Republican from South Portland, said LePage felt provoked, though that didn’t excuse him from failing to control himself.
He later said, “If I’ve lost my ability to help Maine people, maybe it’s time to move on”.
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In January, he said drug dealers with names like “D-Money, Smoothie (and) Shifty” are getting Maine’s white women pregnant.
