‘I’ve spent my life helping black people, ‘ LePage said in the message.
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LePage’s second and final term as governor officially ends in 2019.
“I’m looking at all options”, he said Tuesday on the Bangor radio station WVOM, as reported by the Press Herald.
LePage also linked race and drug trafficking Monday during the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers in Boston, drawing a sharp rebuke from Gov. Dan Malloy of CT and the mayors of several MA towns that LePage repeatedly names as heroin sources.
LePage left the vulgar message after Gattine reportedly called the governor a racist.
Speaking on WVOM-FM radio, LePage said that his tirade was “unacceptable and totally my fault”. It’s like a cop giving you a warning saying: If I ever see you on the street going 60 again, I’ll throw the book at you.
“I think he may need some help though – he needs to calm down a bit”, Stubbert said.
“When I was called a racist I just lost it, and there’s no excuse”, the governor said. “I’m just telling you what’s happening”.
The governor said this morning that Republican legislators have made “demands” of him, but LePage didn’t mention any specifics, or whether he’s prepared to meet those “demands”.
But Democrats and members of LePage’s own party said the apology didn’t go far enough.
“As a result of that meeting, the governor said he would be talking to his family and closest friends about corrective action that was discussed in the meeting”, said James Cyr, a Thibodeau spokesman. “It’s another thing not to have any party behind you”.
Last week, LePage, a Republican, said that in the past six months he’s been collecting photos of people arrested on drug charges in Maine.
Gov. Paul LePage in a radio interview this morning apologized to ME people, Rep. Drew Gattine – the latest controversy to hang over his office.
Though LePage won’t be on the ballot, Dill argues that the governor’s comments may create an uphill battle for GOP lawmakers who are seeking re-election in November. He has been a staunch critic of President Barack Obama and has previously come under fire for controversial comments regard race.
Maine Governor Paul LePage speaks at the 23rd Annual Energy Trade and Technology Conference in Boston, Massachusetts November 13, 2015.
“Mr. Gattine, this is Gov. Paul Richard LePage”, the audio recording says.
That was nothing compared with the time in 2013 when LePage said state Senator Troy Dale Jackson “claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline”. I want you to prove that I’m a racist. And whether it’s right or wrong, and I’ll leave you to make that judgment, but I spoke fact…. In the interview, LePage laughed when he talked about using the guillotine to chop off the heads of drug traffickers.
ME does not have a lieutenant governor, so if LePage were to step down, the president of the state’s senate, Republican Michael Thibodeau, would take over.
Such erratic, menacing behavior has raised questions about LePage’s stability just weeks before an election in which state Republicans are concerned that LePage’s antics could drag down the party.
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“A half-hearted, partial apology on a radio show does not get remotely close to addressing the core issue: ME faces serious issues and its government is not functioning”, the state’s Democratic House leadership said in a statement on Tuesday.
