Maine Gov. Paul LePage is supporting President Donald Trump’s call to stop the removal of Confederate monuments in the wake of last weekend’s violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. LePage’s comments issued today on a Portland radio station are stirring some controversy.
In his weekly appearance on WGAN, LePage was asked about the events in Charlottesville and about Trump’s assertion that all sides were to blame for the violence. LePage said he agrees with Trump on that issue, and also sides with the president in opposing the removal of Confederate monuments and statues as symbols of racism and white supremacy.
“This is what our history is and to me, it’s just like going to New York City right now and taking down the monument of those that perished in the 9/11. It will come to that,” he said.
And again echoing Trump, LePage said while the statue under scrutiny in Charlottesville is of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, other historical figures could be next.
“Today, that’s today. Next week George Washington is gone,” he said.
And LePage went on to liken efforts to remove Confederate statues to the the actions Islamic terrorists have taken against historic sites in the Middle East.
“I remember seeing this gruesome sight when Iraq fell apart and they were taking down all the statues and the Taliban did the same thing in Afghanistan. Quite frankly I think we are better than that,” he said.
The responses from Trump and LePage are disturbing to Elizabeth Helitzer, executive director of the Maine Holocaust and Human Rights Center.
“The issue right now is that we are at a place of violence, we are at a place where people feel like violent protest is the answer to the problem, and that is a dangerous place to be,” she said.
Helitzer said it is troubling that the language being used by political leaders today is similar to that which has led to violence and genocide in the past.
She said the Center uses a teaching tool called the pyramid of hate to explain how escalating rhetoric can have horrifying consequences. Helitzer said on the first steps of the pyramid are name-calling and belittling jokes, which may seem innocuous but are very divisive.
“The next steps are discrimination, then violence and ultimately genocide,” she said.
Elected political leaders of both parties have spoken out to denounce the violence. Maine Public sought comment from LePage on the issue on Monday but got no response.
LePage said he was slow to comment because he was at his Boothbay home over the weekend and does not watch TV news or read newspapers. In his radio appearance, he reiterated his longstanding condemnation of the Ku Klux Klan but also said blame for the violence must be shared by all the groups that gathered in Virginia.
This story was originally published Aug. 17, 2017 at 10:53 a.m. ET.
