New footage reveals that a Republican candidate for governor in Maine who once touted himself as “Donald Trump before Donald Trump” threatened to “deck” a Democratic staffer during a campaign event over the weekend.
Paul LePage, who led the state of Maine from 2011 to 2019, earning the moniker ‘America’s craziest governor,’ is vying for his old seat in November.
The bombastic former governor has made headlines in the past for absurd and racist remarks, such as joking about bombing one of his state’s main newspapers and alleging ‘people with the names D-Money, Smoothie, and Shifty’ are coming to Maine to sell narcotics and ‘get a young white girl pregnant.’
Despite promising reporters in 2019 that he was done with politics and would’retire and go to Florida,’ LePage reportedly returned to project a more’mellowed’ image to appeal to the majority of moderate voters in his home state.
A video obtained by the Daily Beast allegedly shows LePage threatening a person who caught the ex-governor by surprise as he walked through a puddle of mud at the outdoor gathering.
LePage, apparently surprised by the closeness of the person filming, says in the audio recording, “Six feet away or I’ll deck you”
The former governor holds a donut in one hand and points to someone behind the camera with the other.
“If you enter my territory, you’re going down,” he continues.
Three men dressed in LePage’s campaign attire chuckle as they encircle the lawmaker.
LePage concludes the tape by stating, “Enough is enough.” Six feet far.
It is unclear what occurred prior to or after the video.
The individual who videotaped is apparently an employee of the Maryland Democratic Party.
Brent Littlefield, LePage’s top campaign adviser, did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for additional context, but stated: ‘Paul LePage is not like most people; he was homeless as a child and forced to live on the streets, overcoming tremendous odds to earn an advanced college degree, become a successful Maine businessman, Mayor, and Governor.’
The Maine Republican Party told DailyMail.com, “In a world where someone just attempted to stab Lee Zeldin and Salman Rushdie was forced to fight for his life after being stabbed multiple times, it’s no surprise that Paul LePage was upset with this paid Democratic Party staffer getting so close in such a sneaky manner.”
Paul LePage has received more threats of physical harm because of his political opinions than any other Maine elected figure. There are also few Maine public figures who, like Governor LePage, grew up in an abusive home. This indicates that he faces a unique level of personal danger,’ said Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party.
There is a straightforward solution: trackers should respect the personal space of candidates. Filming is one thing, but this experience transcended that.’ The Maine Democratic Party verified to DailyMail.com that the individual involved in the incident was a member of their staff.
Paul LePage has been, is, and will always be a bully. Drew Gattine, the chair of the Maine Democratic Party, stated that when he was governor, he frequently threatened people with violence and the authority of his office.
This latest menacing outburst merely demonstrates that he has never changed. The citizens of Maine deserve more than Paul LePage and his divisiveness and bigotry.
LePage is competing against the incumbent Democratic governor of Maine, Janet Mills.
In excess of a decade ago, he ascended to the governorship on a wave of Tea Party support spurred by Republican opposition to Barack Obama.
Then, during the 2016 Republican primary, LePage tightly connected himself with Donald Trump by becoming only the second governor to endorse him for president.
“I was Donald Trump before he gained popularity,” In February of that year, he declared on the Howie Carr Show, “I believe I should support him because we are cut from the same fabric.”
He also stated that Trump’s opponents at the time, Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, were ‘destroying the brand’ of the Republican Party.
In June, NBC reported that LePage is now in a ‘new era’ of his political career.
Mark Brewer, a political scientist, told the site, “What he is attempting to do is not necessarily change his position, but smooth out some of the rough edges.”
LePage recently questioned the legitimacy of his state’s elections during a campaign stop in Mount Vernon on August 8.
According to the Courier-Journal, he stated, “In Maine, I have great confidence in tiny communities — I’d say places with less than 1,000 people — because the clerks usually know everyone in town, so I have a lot of confidence.”
Referring to the state’s larger and more blue-collar cities, he added, “I have less faith in Bangor, Rockland, Lewiston, Portland, and South Portland.” These are areas that require additional caution. There were 163,000 persons who voted without ID in the previous presidential election.’