Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) almost went a whole month without generating national headlines for using outrageous rhetoric. Alas, he didn’t quite reach the milestone. NBC News reported this afternoon:
Maine Gov. Paul LePage, famous for his controversial statements, said Tuesday morning “we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country” — while also criticizing President Obama for being what he described as an “autocrat.””Sometimes I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken,” LePage told radio station WVOM, “but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law because we’ve had eight years of a president — he’s an autocrat, he just does it on his own, he ignores Congress and every single day, we’re slipping into anarchy.”
As the Portland Press Herald‘s report added, the beleaguered governor went on to say he sees himself as a member of the Republican Party “that is different than the people that claim to be Republicans that are out there shooting their mouth off.”Because clearly, if there’s one thing that offends Paul LePage, it’s people who are “out there shooting their mouth off.”But do take a moment to appreciate just how ridiculous the Maine governor’s comments are, because it’s rare to see a quote from an elected official that eats its own tail quite as dramatically as this.LePage starts by saying he wants Trump “to show some authoritarian power,” which is obviously antithetical to our system of government at the most basic of levels. The governor then endorses “the rule of law,” which pretty directly contradicts the call for “authoritarian power” he mentioned just seconds earlier.Then, note how the governor, moment after calling for a chief executive to show “authoritarian power,” complains that President Obama operates independently too much, which in turn has pushed the United States towards “anarchy.”Which, evidently, the Tea Party Republican thinks is bad, unless Trump is doing it.It would appear Paul LePage doesn’t know the meaning of some of the words he’s using, but rest assured, he’s definitely not out there shooting his mouth off.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."