Drew Gattine, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party issued the following statement today in response to the Maine Republican Party opening a so-called “Multicultural Center” in Portland:
“Since Paul LePage left office, Maine has become an open and welcoming state - a state that sends the clear message to new Mainers that if you are willing to work hard, then there will be opportunity for you to succeed here.
“For eight years prior, the MaineGOP - led by Paul LePage - insulted new Mainers, sowed deep division among them, and left them feeling not only unwelcome, but genuinely scared for themselves and their future. Opening a campaign office during an election year isn’t going to erase the harm that Paul LePage has done to new Mainers or make them forget who he really is, what he stands for, and what he thinks of them.”
Background on Paul LePage’s treatment of Maine’s immigrants and people of color:
- Portland Press Herald: LePage to NAACP: ‘Kiss my butt’
- Bangor Daily News: LePage wrongly blames ‘illegals’ for diseases in Maine
- Washington Post: LePage doubles down: ‘The enemy right now’ is ‘people of color or people of Hispanic origin’
- Vox: Maine Gov. Paul LePage: you shoot “the enemy” in war, and people of color are “the enemy” right now
- Portland Press Herald: LePage breaks with Maine’s attorney general to support Trump’s immigration ban
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