“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. “I’m not going to say I’m not going to finish it”.
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I mention this because the governor’s willingness to say he might quit does not mean he’s actually prepared to quit.
LePage said he still has the energy to tackle issues like wait lists for state services and solar policy, but if he’s “lost my ability to convince the ME people that’s what we need and that’s the type of people we need in Augusta, you know, maybe it is the time to move on”.
LePage has always been known for his controversial comments, but his most recent scandal seems to have inflicted some serious damage.
LePage has been mired in controversy throughout much of his governorship, no more so than last week, when a voicemail he left for a state representative was made public.
LePage, 67, said he had lost his temper when he was told that Gattine had described his views as racist. I need you to… just friggin’.
Being called a racist, LePage said, was “like calling a black man the “N” word or a woman the “C” word”. I’ve spent my life helping black people and you little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker. I want you to record this and make it public because I am after you.
On Wednesday, LePage claimed that “the majority” of drug dealers arrested in ME are black or Latino. 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. LePage said his outburst was justified because Gattine called him a racist – something Gattine has repeatedly denied.
LePage tried to defend his anti-drug dealer comments – and the obscene message to Gattine – a day later, but again refused to ease off his racist rhetoric. LePage’s daughter also recently accepted a position in the Trump campaign.
Thibodeau and House Republican Leader Ken Fredette of Newport met late Monday afternoon with LePage at the Blaine House.
He said Republican Senate members are making demands.
“I don’t think our caucus is talking about impeachment”, Thibodeau told WMTW.
What is curious is that there are very few Americans openly expressing shame and humiliation that in a free liberal society like America, calls for killing non-Aryan Americans in a race war are becoming common talking points among Republicans; it informs that the racial animus plaguing this nation runs deeper and is far worse than previously imagined.
State Sen. Amy Volk (R) on Sunday posted on Facebook that she would even support censuring the governor.
LePage said Friday that he would not resign unless several of his political opponents do as well. “We feel that the governor has really demonstrated behaviors, and it’s not just that it’s not appropriate for a governor, it shows that he is not in control of either his emotions or his actions, and yes, we have called for his resignation”.
ME lawmakers once tried to impeach LePage.
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LePage was reacting to Gattine’s response to statements the governor made last Wednesday at a town hall meeting in North Berwick, where he told a member of the audience that more than 90 percent of those arrested for drug trafficking in ME since January were black or Hispanic.
