Once again, Gov. LePage fails the people of Maine.

Maine waited nearly three days for him to make a statement about the hate groups behind the horrendous violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. He offered relatively bland remarks, followed Thursday by this statement about the protesters who came to face the alt-right: “I think what they are standing for is equally as bad.”

For him to compare both parties on the same moral plane is incomprehensible and wrong. LePage is not a leader, not a man of character, and is part of the problem in our state and in our country.

On Aug. 26, 2016, he stated in regard to the drug issues in Maine that “the enemy right now … are people of color.” On that day, he waged a war against my family and many other families in this state.

During his first term, he informed the NAACP that it could “kiss (his) butt” if it didn’t like him skipping the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast. On another occasion, he suggested that civil rights icon John Lewis should say “thank you” to white people for ending slavery in the U.S.

Let’s call the alt-right what it is: a group of hateful people who want to whitewash our nation, with a membership comprised of neo-Nazis, who hate Jews, and Ku Klux Klan followers, who hate African-Americans. And let’s call LePage a bigot once and for all. Let’s acknowledge that his legacy will be that of a man who is ignorant of our history, divisive in his statements and void of ethics.

“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.” Spoken by a true leader: Martin Luther King Jr.

Robin Monahan

Freeport


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