After Paul LePage got himself in hot water last week for making false claims of voter fraud, even Republicans are urging the former governor to back down. On NewsCenter Maine’s Political Brew, former Republican State Senator Phil Harriman called him out, saying “If you're gonna run for governor, and you're gonna make claims like that, you need to be able to show the media and the public proof that those claims are accurate.”
LePage has been unable to substantiate his lies, with both the current and former Secretaries of State blasting his voter fraud claims—which he has been making for months—for being made up. When challenged on his lies, LePage responded by attacking the reporter who asked him the question.
Between LePage lying, attacking a reporter, and being rebuked by a member of his own party, it’s clear why Harriman’s co-panelist Ethan Strimling said this is "just the same old Paul LePage.”
“It’s no surprise that even Republicans are getting fed up with Paul LePage for his insistence on flat out lying to the people of Maine,” said Drew Gattine, Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. “For eight years, Paul LePage lied to and fought with Mainers of all stripes—Democrats, Republicans, and everyone in between. His lies about voter fraud—and his verbal attack on a reporter when asked about it—show he has not changed at all.”
Throughout the campaign, LePage has made claims that he has changed since his eight years of failure in the Blaine House. Yet just like his lies about voter fraud, his claim of being a new man has been shot down by Maine media, with the Portland Press Herald writing that "The new Paul LePage looks a lot like the old one" and the Bangor Daily News concluding, "Plenty of the old Paul LePage is still there."