PORTLAND, Maine – Republican gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage told a group of fishermen at a GOP forum that he won’t be afraid to tell President Barack Obama to “go to hell”.
LePage, a favourite of tea partiers, told The Associated Press yesterday that he regretted the words he chose Sunday in the small coastal town of Brooksville but that he wasn’t backing down in his criticism of the administration for what he describes as free-spending, antibusiness policies.
A Democratic Party official said it showed LePage is hotheaded and ill-suited to govern.
LePage was responding to a question when he made the remark about Obama, which was captured by a Democratic Party aide who was videotaping the event.
“As your governor, you’re going to be seeing a lot of me on the front page, saying ‘Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell’,” LePage said to applause.
LePage, who is mayor of Waterville but new to statewide politics, declined to offer an outright apology (AP)
