‘Prove I’m a racist’: Maine governor leaves expletive-laden voicemail for lawmaker
Governor Paul LePage suggested earlier this year that black men came to Maine to sell drugs and impregnate white women
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The governor of Maine has run into more controversy after he left an explicit voicemail for a democrat lawmaker, asking him to “prove” the accusations that he was a “racist”.
Paul LePage left the message for state representative Drew Gattine, according to the Portland Press Herald.
The uncensored audio clip contains several explicit and derogatory phrases.
The Republican governor is known for not mincing his words.
The governor’s voicemail was left in response to Mr Gattine’s reportedly calling the governor a racist to local media, though Mr Gattine has denied this.
Mr LePage insisted he was not a racist, despite making comments this week that drug dealers are “90 plus per cent… black and Hispanic people.”
"Mr Gattine, this is governor Paul Richard LePage," the audio recording said.
"I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you [expletive]. I want to talk to you. I want you to prove that I'm a racist. I've spent my life helping black people and you little [expletive], socialist [expletive]. You — I need you to — just friggin'. I want you to record this and make it public because I am after you. Thank you."
On the same day, he challenged Mr Gattine to a dual and called him a "snot-nosed little runt" and threatened to point a gun "right between his eyes".
The governor apologised for the voicemail on Friday, but said being called a racist was "the absolute worst, most vile thing you can call a person".
He supported Ted Cruz during the state primary but later became a strong Donald Trump supporter. Mr Trump’s campaign recently hired his daughter, Lauren LePage, to work on the election.
In January, Mr LePage said that "95 percent of Maine is white" and that black men come to the state to impregnate white women and deal drugs.
In August, he then defended those comments and said he had since kept a record of everyone who was arrested for drug dealing in the state to prove they are mostly black men.
"The fact of the matter is that people from New York and Connecticut are coming to Maine and they are killing our citizens. That’s a fact," he said at a town hall meeting.
In 2013 he reportedly said at a private event that President Barack Obama "hates white people".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments