Elections
“I believe that President Biden won the election,” LePage said in response to a question about whether he agreed with the baseless allegations spread by former President Donald Trump and many Republicans that the 2020 election was stolen.
He added, “I’m just not sure who’s running the country. He’s obviously not capable of running the country and I don’t know who’s waving the strings.”
LePage’s current confidence in the election results contradict comments, previously reported by Beacon, that he made just a few days after the 2020 election to a conservative radio audience. “I tell you, this is clearly a stolen election,” he told WGAN morning host Matt Gagnon. “I think 70 million [Trump voters] all recognize that too many votes were illegitimate votes. People have voted more than once.”
“I’m really concerned that Democrats do not want honest and fair elections,” he said at the time. “They just want to win at all costs.”
Further, when Democratic Rep. Jared Golden won the state’s first ranked-choice election against Bruce Poliquin in Maine’s Second Congressional District, LePage inscribed “Stolen Election” beside his name when he begrudgingly certified the election result.
On Tuesday, LePage laughed off a follow-up question from Maine Public reporter Steve Mistler about whether he would accept the results of this election.
“Absolutely,” LePage said. “I’ve never doubted the results of any elections, including the 2020 presidential election. And I think that’s an absurd question.”
Trump’s Muslim ban
LePage also distorted his record as governor in response to a comment from Mills, who correctly stated that he supported Trump’s 2017 executive order to temporarily ban immigration from seven mostly Muslim countries. Mills, then Maine’s attorney general, signed onto a legal brief opposing Trump’s order, prompting LePage to respond on social media.
“AG Mills speaks for herself on immigration order. I fully support [Trump’s] exec action to protect all Americans,” the former governor tweeted.
During the debate Tuesday, LePage flatly denied ever giving his support.
“Janet Mills, you’re a liar,” he said. “I have not joined and prevented Muslims from going to work, ever. I did not join the Trump administration in any immigration.”
Abortion rights
LePage also dialed back his stance on abortion on Tuesday.
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and ending a national right to an abortion, Mills and Maine Democrats have made reproductive rights a cornerstone of the governor’s re-election campaign, arguing that her veto pen would stand in the way of any attempts to roll back Maine’s abortion protections if Republicans win a legislative majority in November.
During the debate, Mills asked LePage directly, “Would you block a restriction on abortion?”
“The law that’s in place right now, I have the same exact place you have,” he responded. “I would honor the law as it is.”
Speaking to conservative audiences in the past, however, LePage has been much more strident in his opposition to abortion.
“We should not have abortion,” LePage said in 2016 at the Maine Right to Life’s annual “Hands Around the Capitol” rally.
And in his responses to a recent questionnaire from the Christian Education League of Maine, LePage said access to abortion should be restricted.
Taxes
During the debate, LePage also claimed that the state sales tax didn’t increase during his time as governor. However, as MECEP Action, the political and advocacy arm of Maine Center for Economic Policy, pointed out, the tax, which has a greater impact on low and middle-income consumers, went up from 5% to 5.5% in 2013 and LePage proposed further increases in 2015, but they were rejected by both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature.
LePage also restated his desire to eliminate Maine’s income tax entirely during the debate. Unlike taxes on consumption, income taxes can be specifically targeted at wealthy residents.
“Right now there are 10 states working to remove the income tax. We need to phase it out for the long haul,” he said.
