A spokesperson for Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) pushed back on speculation that the governor is angling for a job in President Donald Trump’s administration.
TPM reached out to LePage’s director of communications, Peter Steele, on Wednesday for comment regarding an article in the Portland Press Herald, which highlighted an action-packed few days in Washington, D.C. for the governor and wondered if it signaled a move to the Trump administration.
“[D]espite the media’s eagerness to report on juicy rumors and false innuendo, the Governor’s number-one focus continues to be growing jobs and lowering taxes for Maine people, improving Maine’s economy and reducing electricity rates for Maine consumers and employers,” he told TPM by email.
The Press Herald reported Wednesday that LePage has been in Washington, D.C. for much of the past two weeks. He participated in a panel on welfare reform at the Conservative Political Action Committee last week and gave interviews to “Fox and Friends” and the National Rifle Association’s online media outlet, NRATV.
The Press Herald reported that, on Monday, press secretary Adrienne Bennett said LePage was expected to be back in-state “next week.”
Steele told the paper: “The president is pretty impressed with all the accomplishments the governor has made over the last six years that the Maine media have ignored.”
He echoed those comments in his email to TPM: “Governor LePage is a strong supporter of President Trump, and the Trump administration is impressed with the significant accomplishments Governor LePage has made over the last six years—including the major accomplishments in fiscal responsibility, welfare reform and tax reform that the state and national media have ignored.”
