Workers from India 'hardest to understand' – Maine governor at GOP event
Maine Governor Paul LePage has drawn fire for controversial remarks he made about migrant workers during a keynote address at the Maine GOP convention on Saturday.
The avid Trump supporter said it's hard to understand workers "from Bulgaria," and added that workers from India are "the worst ones", NBC reports.
Indians are "lovely people but you've got to have an interpreter", he proclaimed.
i think your ears must have problem.....consult any good EnT specialist mr. #paullepagehttps://t.co/OLqi1sbjrL
— D RISHABH SHUKLA (@drishabh_shukla) April 24, 2016
@IndianExpress With people like Paul Le Page being US State governor, US still boasts about acting against racial attitudes.
— Ravisankar (@Raviprs53) April 24, 2016
Really though, I feel like the rest of the US looks at Maine like we're the hillbilly uneducated cousin. Because of #PaulLePage. Swell.
— Panda To The Max, Yo (@ItCanBePurple) April 24, 2016
The governor made the controversial remarks about foreign workers when discussing a referendum on Maine's minimum wage.
LePage, who had campaigned to limit the minimum wage to $10 an hour, criticized proposals to raise Maine's minimum wage to $12.
At Biddeford town hall, talking about damage minimum wage hike to $12 will do to elderly, small biz. #mepoliticspic.twitter.com/4uoyJRNbks
— Paul R. LePage (@Governor_LePage) April 19, 2016
The outspoken governor also made a dig at President Obama, suggesting his last name was actually an abbreviation for "one big-ass mistake, America".
Le Page is one of only two confirmed Trump supporters among Maine’s 23 delegates should the national convention vote require a second ballot. This looks likely, given Trump, though out in front, is still well short of the required nomination target.
Two more delegates are undecided and the remainder are Cruz supporters. The selection of delegates led to tension in the party camp, with LePage accusing the Cruz campaign of being run by "greedy political hooligans."
LePage recently vetoed a bill to allow pharmacists to dispense anti-heroin-overdose medication Naloxone without a prescription, controversially stating he believed the drug “does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose.”
Maine Gov. Paul LePage To Heroin Addicts: Drop Dead-this guy keeps getting nastier by the minute https://t.co/fe4rpFibJE
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) April 22, 2016
Maine Gov. Paul LePage has a novel solution to his state's heroin problem: https://t.co/0nbcgWyd1Cpic.twitter.com/L1ha5GFb8N
— Charles P. Pierce (@ESQPolitics) April 22, 2016
“Creating a situation where an addict has a heroin needle in one hand and a shot of naloxone in the other produces a sense of normalcy and security around heroin use that serves only to perpetuate the cycle of addiction,” he said.
Earlier this year, legislators campaigned to impeach LePage for allegedly using his position and state funding to intimidate political opponents. A public petition calling for his impeachment garnered over 20,000 signatures.
However, the impeachment motion was subsequently struck down at the Maine House of Representatives by 96 to 52 votes.