Maine’s controversial Republican governor, Paul LePage, said Wednesday night that out-of-state drug traffickers with names like “D-Money” often “impregnate a young white girl” while in the state to sell heroin.
“These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty … these types of guys … they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home,” LePage said, according to the Portland Press Herald. “Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road.”
Peter Steele, the governor’s spokesman, said in a statement that LePage was “not making comments about race.”
“The Governor is not making comments about race. Race is irrelevant,” he said. “What is relevant is the cost to state taxpayers for welfare and the emotional costs for these kids who are born as a result of involvement with drug traffickers. His heart goes out to these kids because he had a difficult childhood too. We need to stop the drug traffickers from coming into our state.”
LePage is swiftly coming under fire for the remark. Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton issued a lengthy statement Thursday night blasting the governor’s “racist rants.”
“Governor LePage’s comments tonight are not only offensive and hurtful but they try to cover up the very real epidemic of drug abuse facing people in his state and across the country. LePage’s racist rants sadly distract from efforts to address one of our nation’s most pressing problems,” she said.
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.
Carrie Dann









