Maine Governor refuses to apologize for threatening voicemail

The Governor of Maine, Republican Paul LePage, has refused to apologise for his threatening and expletive filled voicemail to Democratic politician Drew Gattine.

"I would like to apologize to the people of the state of Maine for having heard the voicemail I left for Rep. [Drew] Gattine," LePage said to reporters at a press conference on Friday. And despite being heard on the voicemail to Gattine saying, "I want you to record this and make it public," the governor said that it was "intended for his ears only", reported ABC News.

LePage said the angry outburst was justified because Gattine had called him racist, something Gattine denied.

"I'm not a name-caller. I'm not going to play that game with the governor. Calling somebody a racist is one of the worst things you can ever call somebody. And it's not something that I've ever called anybody," CNN quoted the Democrat.

LePage, whose second and final term as Governor ends in 2019, has a history of being bombastic and making blunt remarks. In January, he said drug dealers with names like "D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty" are getting Maine's white girls pregnant. He later apologized, saying he meant to say "Maine women" and not "white women".

--IANS

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