A Republican congressional candidate sparked backlash by expressing outrage at a family member's looming deportation.
Paul LePage, the former Maine governor currently seeking the state's open 2nd Congressional District seat, revealed that his son's father-in-law had been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement ahead of deportation, and he complained the process was unfair.
"Not everybody that's here is illegal," LePage said. "I have a father, my son's wife's dad is here legally, but he's being deported because he came from a country that's not of the certain liking of some people in Washington. That's not right. He has a work permit. He should be allowed to stay."
LePage did not name the relative or identify his home country, but he said ICE should concentrate on gang members and criminals.
"Would I go after everybody that's here that have work permits and have been here for decades?" he said. "Probably not. I'd probably go for the gang people and the criminals."
The former GOP governor – who once declared himself "Trump before Donald Trump" – criticized a new state law that restricts police cooperation with ICE at the event where he made the revelation, and critics called him out for apparent hypocrisy.
"My question to Paul LePage at this Augusta press conference was if, given that the overwhelming majority of people arrested by ICE this year in Maine do not have a criminal charge or conviction, ICE was actually making Maine safer," reported the Portland Press Herald's Ethan Horton. "He answered like this."
"Mass deportations are getting increasingly personal for a lot of candidates and elected officials," observed Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council.
"Oh I see, Republican Paul LePage supports Trump’s fascist ICE policies until it affects one of his relatives," shamed Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA).
"Yet in same breath he says he is against the law limiting local police cooperation with ICE," pointed out The Bulwark's Adrian Carrasquillo. "What do you think often leads to men like his son’s father in law getting arrested/detained? This cooperation! Makes no sense and shows these people don’t understand the laws they back."
"When people question if Texas & Florida are really in play, tell them Trump’s ICE extremism lost PAUL LEPAGE!!!" whooped former congressional staffer Jackson Peel.
"This is next level hot dog meme guy," chuckled Democratic operative Eddie Vale.
"Paul LePage’s entire electoral shtick which got him into office was 'I am an angry mean guy who’s going to f--- people over who need to be f---ed over,'" noted popular X user Constans. "He’s *the* leopard who ate people’s faces complaining that another leopard is eating someone’s face."