AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul Le- Page says people shouldn’t take him too seriously – particularly when he talks about running for Congress, apparently.

For the second time in two years, LePage created a buzz by hinting that he might have eyes on Capitol Hill.

This month, LePage has made two light-hearted suggestions to Boston media that he was contemplating challenging independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine in 2018.

LePage was asked Monday night by conservative radio talk show host Howie Carr if he was going to run against King. LePage responded that he was “considering it.”

Asked again Tuesday, LePage laughed and said, “Don’t take me too seriously.”

But the Republican didn’t shy away from criticizing King, who initially endorsed independent Eliot Cutler in the last governor’s race but later backed the Democratic candidate, U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud. King made the switch hours after Cutler – trailing far behind the other two with days to go – told supporters to vote for the candidate they thought could win if they didn’t see a path to victory for him.

“I think what he did this year was really unheard of. I was very disappointed in him,” LePage said of King, while speaking to reporters in Augusta on Tuesday afternoon. “I have always looked up to him. I was always very fond of Gov. King. But dumping Eliot Cutler at the very end I thought was unheard of. I just couldn’t believe it. So I had to make a wisecrack.”

In 2013, while getting heat for some impolitic comments involving Vaseline, LePage suggested he could drop his re-election bid and instead run for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat, then held by Michaud. LePage later said he was joking.

King’s office declined to respond to LePage’s comments Tuesday but released a statement: “Right now, his focus is on doing the best job he can for the people of Maine in the United States Senate.”