Westbrook, MAINE – In case you missed it, Republican gubernatorial candidates Shawn Moody and Mary Mayhew are standing up for Waterville Mayor Nick Isgro after he attacked David Hogg, a teenage school shooting survivor, telling him to “eat it” on Twitter. 

According to a report by the Morning Sentinel, Moody on the radio last week blamed Democrats for Isgro’s behavior, saying they are “kicking him while he’s down.” Moody also stated that Isgro had apologized and retracted his comments, which is not accurate and further weakens Moody’s already tenuous relationship with the truth (Moody has even incorrectly stated his own past positions on issues). Moody and his campaign – to no one’s surprise – did not respond to requests for comment by the Morning Sentinel. Meanwhile, Mayhew labeled the effort to recall the mayor as “absolutely ridiculous.” 

Moody and Mayhew, who are running to the extreme right, joined Governor Paul LePage in defending the embattled mayor who has a long history on inappropriate and inflammatory online behavior.  

“I’m disappointed but not surprised. Most reasonable people agree that Mayor Isgro’s attack on a teenage shooting survivor is inappropriate, but rather than acknowledge that fact and ask the mayor to apologize, Moody and Mayhew think it’s more important to defend him, just like Governor LePage,” said Phil Bartlett, Chairman of the Maine Democratic Party. “Sadly, this shows how extreme Moody and Mayhew have become in their race to the right for the Republican nomination, and the people of Maine are taking notice.”

Excerpts of the Morning Sentinel story are below and the complete story can be read HERE.

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Some Republicans, including two gubernatorial candidates, are standing by embattled Waterville Mayor Nick Isgro, saying the public should move past his comments on social media and focus on the work the mayor is doing.

Isgro, a second-term Republican, is the subject of a recall election initiated after he tweeted that a survivor of a Florida school shooting should “Eat it.”

The comment has drawn scrutiny to a litany of comments Isgro has made on social media and was the impetus for a recall election scheduled for June 12.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Shawn Moody is among those who have expressed support for Isgro, incorrectly saying in an interview with WLOB Radio in Portland last week that Isgro “retracted the statement, apologized for it” and the Democratic party is trying to “kick him while he’s down.”

Isgro, who deleted the “Eat it” tweet, has not apologized publicly for the tweet and has refused to comment on it or on other social media posts.

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Those involved with the recall have said it’s not about partisan politics, but rather about holding the mayor accountable for what some feel have been communications that aren’t in the best interest of the city.

Still, that hasn’t prevented leaders from the two major parties from weighing in, including Gov. Paul LePage, a former Waterville mayor who wrote a letter to Isgro’s employer last month criticizing a decision to dismiss him from his job.

Isgro, who considered a run for governor last fall, ultimately announced he would not run and called candidates from both parties “custodians of decline” who are “happy to profit from our decline for both themselves and special interests they serve.”

Yet Moody, one of four GOP candidates for governor, defended Isgro’s recent comments last week, saying of the Democratic Party, “If you can demonize people who have put themselves out there to run for office, that are in office, to drive the good people out so they won’t run for office, I’m not going to go through that, to expose my family, my reputation, everything else to that.”

Lauren LePage, who is a spokeswoman for Moody’s campaign and also chairwoman of the Waterville Republican Party, did not respond to requests for comment.

Moody also did not respond to a message left Monday on his cellphone.

Mary Mayhew, gubernatorial candidate and former Department of Health and Human Services commissioner, also has expressed support for Isgro, saying she thinks the recall is “absolutely ridiculous.”

“The issue is overreaction to that social media post,” Mayhew said. “As commissioner of DHHS, I had employees who routinely were posting various things on social media. It’s not our role to try and police everything people are saying.”

Spokesmen for the campaigns of the two other Republican candidates, Rep. Ken Fredette, R-Newport, and Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon, declined to comment on the situation in Waterville.

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