Just five short months after saying “we need to find a path to have civil discourse” as part of his bogus and failed rebranding effort, Paul LePage is once again proving he hasn’t changed and is still invested in launching personal attacks against his opponents, this time calling Governor Janet Mills “elitist.”
Maine reporters were quick to call out LePage, with a reporter at the Lewiston Sun Journal noting that LePage attacked Governor Mills as an “elitist” and then asked for a $1,000 campaign donation, while a reporter from Newscenter MAINE called it “probably the dumbest charge any politician from any party can make”.
The Bangor Daily News noted that LePage, who has served 14 years in elected office and is now seeking to unseat Maine’s first woman governor for another four in a bid for an unprecedented third term, “has gone from an outsider to a behind-the-scenes controller of Republican politics.”
While LePage also said earlier this year, “if we don’t find a path to at least like each other and respect each other, our country is in for doom,” he clearly isn’t practicing what he’s preaching.
LePage has repeatedly demeaned Governor Mills personally, calling her just this year “sweetie” and “this lady.” He has also diminished her experience as a survivor of domestic violence.
Comments like these are why the Portland Press Herald editorial page editor has said “the new Paul LePage is a lot like the old one” and why the Bangor Daily News editorial board has said, “meet the new Paul LePage, same as the old Paul LePage.”
“Paul LePage desperately wants Maine people to believe he’s changed, but every time he opens his mouth he proves he’s the same as he’s ever been,” said Misha Linnehan, spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party. “His disdain for people and his divisive words and actions are exactly why Maine became a national embarrassment under his watch. Governor Mills on the other hand works with people to find consensus and move Maine forward—something LePage has never been able to do. No matter how much he claims he’s changed, we know the truth: he hasn’t. We cannot allow him to drag Maine backward to a time of divisiveness and dysfunction.”