Maine governor sorry for remark about 'young white' girls

Wednesday's comments were made while talking about beefing up enforcement to address the state's heroin problem.

Addressing Maine's drug challenges at a town hall Wednesday, LePage, a Republican, said, "These are guys by the name D-Money, Smoothy, Shifty".

LePage was trying to dig his way out of the controversy on Friday, and digging himself in deeper. These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty - these types of guys. "By remaining silent, Gov. Christie condones LePage's racist comments and his worldview", Michael Tyler, the DNC's director of African American media, said in an emailed statement Thursday night.

"I can't believe what comes out of his mouth", said Joan Roux, of Portland.

LePage said he had meant to say "Maine women" instead of "white girls" and said he wouldn't apologize to ME women for the remarks. LePage, who started the conference with a Rocky quote, spent the majority of his speech admonishing reporters for publicizing his comments. Christie's camp has stayed silent on the incident so far, though Hillary Clinton's campaign has already issued a condemnation of LePage's remarks.

Malloy said LePage's statement distorts the roots of a devastating opioid epidemic, which is being felt in CT as well. And on Friday, when he tried to clarify his remarks, he only dug a deeper hole: "I tried to explain that Maine is essentially all white". "What are they, black?"

He directed most of his ire at the reporters present who he said were looking for a soundbite and who were not helping take on the issue of drugs in Maine. "And if you want to make it racist, go ahead and do whatever you want". "I probably couldn't get so many of you here without saying something foolish".

"Having said that, I made a mistake, and I'm not flawless", he said.

The DNC also called upon New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to disavow LePage's endorsement for the presidential candidate's bid for the White House.

Two years later, according to Republican attendees to a LePage gathering, the far-right governor complained that President Obama doesn't emphasize his biracial heritage because the president "hates white people".

LePage has often come under attack for his blunt comments.

"I am not a polished speaker", he said. "I may have a slip of the tongue but my heart is to protect Maine people".

When asked if the nicknames for the drug dealers imply they are black, LePage replied, "I don't know where they're from".

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