Maine Gov. Paul LePage is receiving quite a bit of blowback from the Hillary Clinton campaign after he made racist comments referring to out-of-state heroin dealers,
USA Today reports.
"These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty — these types of guys — they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home," LePage said during a town hall meeting Wednesday.
"Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road," LePage continued.
However, after the Governor's "racist rants" Clinton campaign aid Marlon Marshall blasted LePage by saying that his words "are not only offensive and hurtful, but they try to cover up the very real epidemic of drug abuse facing people in his state and across the country."
Peter Steele, the governor's communications director, defended LePage and told the
Portland Press Herald that "race is irrelevant."
"What is relevant is the cost to state taxpayers for welfare and the emotional costs for these kids who are born as a result of involvement with drug traffickers," Steele said. "His heart goes out to these kids because he had a difficult childhood, too. We need to stop the drug traffickers from coming into our state."
Politico notes LePage has endorsed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the 2016 presidential race, however, the Christie campaign has yet to comment on LePage's remarks.
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