Responding to the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago, Paul LePage said yesterday that the United States is being turned into a “banana republic” and that “we’re being taken over by the oligarchs, the elitists.”
But if Paul LePage is worried about the country being taken over by oligarchs, he should look in the mirror. LePage – who is running for an unprecedented third term and will have served twelve years as governor, if reelected – repeatedly violated laws during his eight years in office and refused to implement the will of Maine voters. According to the Bangor Daily News:
“During his administration, LePage has held up the sale of voter-approved bonds. He's attempted to veto bills after the deadline for vetoing them has passed. More recently, he's stood in the way of the Medicaid expansion voters approved but which he's consistently opposed. And he's held up financial orders that would transfer money lawmakers have already budgeted to political candidates relying on the state's public campaign financing system, a move that is a violation of the law.”
LePage’s abuse of power in office and his repeated refusal to obey the law has been the center of past reporting, including:
Portland Press Herald Editorial Board: It's clear that after seven years, LePage still doesn't understand his job. He is the governor, not the king, and his power is limited.
Bangor Daily News Editorial Board: When a law has no meaning, the governor must be LePage.
Kennebec Journal Editorial Board: He’s not big on checks and balances. Whether it’s a voter-approved bond he won’t issue, a life-saving medicine he won’t distribute or a renewable energy project he can disrupt, the governor knows how to say ‘no.’
LePage even went so far as to say that former President Donald Trump needed to “show some authoritarian power.”
“If LePage is worried about the country being taken over, he needs to turn around and look in the mirror because it’s him who we should all be afraid of,” said Misha Linnehan, spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party. “As Governor, he repeatedly refused to implement the will of Maine voters, flagrantly violated Maine laws, and often tried to impose his will onto other people. That’s a real banana republic.”