Maine Democratic Party Chairman Drew Gattine issued the following statement this week in response to a Maine Sunday Telegram story revealing that Paul LePage sought two separate jobs in the Trump Administration while serving as the Governor of Maine:
“A whole two years before his term was up, Paul LePage was trying to abandon Maine for a job in the Trump Administration – and he promoted himself by touting his opposition to expanding health care for people. What a slap in the face to Maine people and an insult to all those who suffered because of what he did.
“The governorship is not a stepping stone; it’s a serious job that deserves someone who is committed to serving the people of Maine, not someone who uses it to show off to Donald Trump and advance their own career interests while hurting Maine people.
“This may be the only time I ever agree with Donald Trump: but Paul LePage was unfit for a job in his Administration, just as he is unfit to hold the job of Governor again.
“If he didn’t care about us then, then he certainly doesn’t care about us now.”
In case you missed it, over the weekend an exposé in the Portland Press Herald revealed that during his time in the Blaine House, Paul LePage attempted not once, but twice to abandon Maine for a gig in the Trump administration. According to the report, he wrote two separate letters to the administration asking for a job.
The article makes clear why LePage was under consideration—his record of successfully blocking tens of thousands of Maine people from accessing health care. In one letter to Trump, LePage boasted about his record of “preventing the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare.” While LePage did not end up getting a job offer, he counseled the Trump administration and congressional Republicans about how to tear down and undermine the Affordable Care Act. The report also mentions that during his numerous jaunts down to DC to meet with Trump and his allies about ripping away health care from millions of Americans, LePage racked up a bill of nearly $22,000 at the Trump International Hotel, and stuck it on Maine taxpayers.