Maine’s Tea Party Guv Goes Rogue: Let Obama Nominate Scalia’s Successor!

Republican Gov. Paul LePage acknowledges applause after taking the stage prior to being sworn in for his second term, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
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Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) broke with Republican Party leadership on Thursday, insisting that President Barack Obama should be allowed to fill the Supreme Court seat left open by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.

“I’m a big constitutionalist,” LePage told the Maine Sun Journal. “If it’s in the Constitution, I think it means something.”

These remarks are surprising coming from a tea party governor known for calling for the return of the guillotine and reportedly saying the President “hates white people.”

LePage hedged his stance in his remarks to the Sun Journal, insisting he had nothing to do with machinations in Washington, D.C., or even in his own state capitol.

“I have no clue what the federal government is going to do and I have no clue what the state Legislature is going to do, so I don’t even worry about it,” he told the newspaper.

Major GOP figures, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and 2016 contender Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), have insisted that no justice should be confirmed until the next president assumes office.

h/t Politico

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