Maine Governor Paul LePage compares the campaign to remove Confederate monuments to “erasing history” and desecrating the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. In a radio interview on WGAN that supported President Donald Trump’s insistence the Charlottesville violence was created by “both sides,” LePage also concurred with Trump’s description of those who want to remove Confederate monuments as “foolish.”
LePage condemned the Ku Klux Klan, but said the counter-protesters also brought violence to the Charlottesville “Unite the Right” event.
“I can’t speak for the president but I can speak for myself,” LePage said. “I condemn both sides, I think they are disgusting – both sides. They went there with the intent of inciting violence and the thing that nobody wants to talk about is two law enforcement officers were trying to do their jobs didn’t get home that night to their families – as was this young lady that was killed. There is no place for either of those groups in this country.”
But he reserved his toughest criticism for those insisting that Confederate history be removed: “I think what they are standing for is equally as bad; they are trying to erase history. How can future generations learn if we are going to erase history: that’s disgusting.”
LePage went even further, suggesting that those who want to remove monuments “don’t even know the history of this country.” He then made a comparison, stating, “Whether we like it or not this is what our history is and to me it’s just like going to New York City right now and taking down the the monument of those who perished in 9/11.”
Maine fought for the Union in the Civil War. The state was home to the 23rd Maine Regiment that famously repulsed a Confederate attack on Little Round Top during the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The commanding officer of that regiment, Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, would survive the war, win the Congressional Medal of Honor, and become the governor of Maine.
LePage also said in the interview that he has been targeted by people who are accusing him of supporting the KKK.
“The Maine people need to know, I have since been governor, speaking out very loudly against the KKK,” LePage said.
