Maine Governor Paul LePage has made no secret of his disdain for the press in the past, but he took his hatred of the Fourth Estate to new levels this week when he cheered the end of the industry altogether.
After yet another run-in with members of the press in his state seeking an interview, LePage ranted during a radio interview saying that the end of the free press equaled a better society.
“[T]he sooner the print press goes away, the better society will be.”
LePage’s reignited hatred for the media came in response to Freedom of Access Act request which revealed a voicemail sent by LePage to Senator Roger Katz. The voicemail was notable because it showed, his own words, that the Governor planned to leave the state for 10 days, a fact which he had previously denied.
LePage is under fire for planning to leave the state because Maine is currently suffering under a budget impasse. When the media reported correctly that LePage planned to leave the state, the Governor lashed out, calling them “fake news.”
“I just love to sit in my office and make up ways so they’ll write these stupid stories because they are just so stupid, it’s awful.”
In the past, LePage has attacked the media passionately. It’s no secret why he might be inspired to, after all, a Governor who calls for the hanging of black drug dealers, who calls marijuana “deadly,” who says civil rights hero John Lewis should say “thank you” to the Republican party for ending slavery – well, that’s a man who is gonna be in a lot of headlines.
Still, like a serial dater with a long string of “crazy” ex girlfriends, LePage doesn’t seem to realize that the common denominator in all his clashes with the evil media was, well, him!
Sadly for LePage, allowing the free press to be stifled so completely would require the consent of the governed, and no matter how many Trumpites hate the media, millions of Americans would go to war to protect the integrity of the first amendment.
