Gov. Paul LePage packed so many absurdities into a nonsensical call for a strong man like Donald Trump to run the U.S. government Tuesday, it’s hard to know where to begin to sort them out. LePage barely helped with an impromptu news conference he called Wednesday, in which he said he misspoke.
Let’s start with what he said during his weekly appearance on WVOM radio.
“Sometimes I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken, but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law because we’ve had eight years of a president — he’s an autocrat,” LePage said. “He just does it on his own, he ignores Congress and every single day. We’re slipping into anarchy. I just think that four more years of a similar mentality is going to destroy this nation.”
During his Wednesday news conference, LePage said he should have used the word “authoritative” instead of “authoritarian” to describe Trump. But he doubled down on his criticism of President Barack Obama, calling him a “dictator” who rules by “executive fiat.”
It is especially ironic that LePage considers Obama to be an autocrat because “he ignores Congress.” LePage, during his six years as governor, has been openly hostile to the Maine Legislature. He calls lawmakers who disagree with him “ my enemy” and decorated a Christmas tree, in July, with pictures of lawmakers who had crossed him.
He vetoed a slew of bills last year simply because they were sponsored by Democrats. He has vetoed bills his administration supported because lawmakers dared to make changes to them.
He has disregarded the will of the voters when it comes to state borrowing, and during his Wednesday news conference he said he was obligated to. “They didn’t know what they were voting on,” he told reporters when asked about his refusal to issue voter-approved bonds.
In the same vein, LePage said he issued executive orders to improve the lives of Maine people, unlike Obama who used such orders to bolster his legacy. In reality, many of the executive orders LePage has issued are attempts to undermine legislative action; limit the authority of Attorney General Janet Mills, his political opponent; and to launch fruitless investigations into agencies he doesn’t like.
Like an autocrat, LePage has forced out public employees who don’t do what he demands. He sought to intimidate donors to the state’s largest environmental group, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, because it has actively worked against him on several issues. He had ”wanted” posters created featuring the faces of representatives of NRCM, a state labor union and the liberal Maine People’s Alliance and displayed them at town hall events.
This is autocratic behavior, and Maine has suffered as a result.
And anarchy? Americans are extremely frustrated with their government. But few, other than folks LePage has befriended, are saying they don’t recognize the legitimacy of the U.S. government or want to overthrow it.
During his radio rant, LePage also attacked Sen. Susan Collins, who took a principled stance against Trump months ago. LePage tried to portray himself as a true Republican, “from the party of Ronald Reagan. That is different than the people who claim to be Republicans that are out there shooting their mouths off.”
But it is Collins, a moderate and consensus builder who doesn’t demean and threaten others, who best represents the GOP and the legacy of Reagan — not LePage or Trump.
