The embattled ME governor announced on the radio Wednesday his plans to stay in office and seek “spiritual guidance” along with his family.
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He said he will be seeking “spiritual guidance” from his family. “And all I am simply saying is we are not going to be doing that”. The governor generated a firestorm after stating that more than 90 percent of drug traffickers arrested for bringing drugs into ME were black or Hispanic and then left a vulgar and verbally abusive voice mail for a Democratic lawmaker who he said had called him racist.
On Tuesday, House Republicans gathered in Augusta and made a decision to not punish LePage over his latest crisis, while about 1,000 people rallied near the Blaine House to call for him to quit.
“I have never met a person who’s been flawless and not made a mistake and, ah, hopefully the people of Maine will say, ‘OK, we’ll forgive you this time and you clean up your act and let’s move forward, ‘ ” he said during a radio broadcast Tuesday.
LePage apologized to the Democratic lawmaker, state Rep. Drew Gattine’s phone, and should continue to apologize for his action.
Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage has met with a Democratic lawmaker to apologize for leaving an obscene rant on his voicemail and for making a comment about aiming a gun between his eyes.
When pressed by ABC News regarding whether he still believes after the meeting that LePage should resign, Gattine said, “I would like to see a different governor”. But he acknowledged that the options are limited.
The state House and Senate both adjourned in April, so the leaders would need to agree on the need for a special session before setting any votes calling for LePage’s resignation or censure. They even suggest Republican state Senate President Michael Thibodeau wouldn’t be a bad replacement as governor. The governor blames a reporter who he says told him Gattine called him a racist.
Asked if there should be consequences for LePage’s actions, Thibodeau replied: “Of course there should”. “Thank you”, he said in the message. “That’s a hard question to answer, isn’t it?” “I think it illustrates that he is unfit [to govern] and that his judgment and his ability to lead a complex state have been jeopardized”. “I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you (obscene term)”.
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But though Republicans generally are concerned about the governor’s health, they don’t want him to leave prematurely. “And you know we are trying to figure out how to get him there”. After continuing to defend his remarks and say that he has made the proper apologies, LePage said he won’t be talking directly to the media ever again.
