Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Paul LePage, the Republican governor of Maine, called Democratic Rep. Drew Gattine a “cocksucker” in a profane voicemail he left Thursday. Gattine had criticized LePage’s previous comments that laid all the blame for illegal drugs on black people, but denied calling him a racist. LePage didn’t buy it. “Mr. Gattine, this is Gov. Paul Richard LePage,” the voicemail obtained by the Portland Press Herald began. “I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you cocksucker. 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 son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker. You… I need you to, just friggin. I want you to record this and make it public because I am after you. Thank you.”
In a statement on Friday, LePage reportedly apologized for the voicemail but said he takes claims of racism “very seriously.” He said, the label of racist is “the absolute worst, most vile thing you can call a person,” adding, “It made me enormously angry when a TV reporter asked me for my reaction about Gattine calling me a racist. ... So I called Gattine and used the worst word I could think of. I apologize for that to the people of Maine, but I make no apology for trying to end the drug epidemic that is ravaging our state.”