--- title: Maine Governor Paul LePage Sorry for 'White Girl' Remarks description: "My brain was slower than my mouth" canonical: https://time.com/4172603/paul-lepage-chris-christie-maine-2016-election/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-08T16:03:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:35.560Z article:section: Politics og:title: Maine Governor Sorry for 'White Girl' Remarks og:description: "My brain was slower than my mouth" og:url: https://time.com/4172603/paul-lepage-chris-christie-maine-2016-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76e8eeec3f35727c/69887827cd1bba49816fed6f/gettyimages-468502316.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Governor Paul LePage holds a Town Hall Meeting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Maine Governor Sorry for 'White Girl' Remarks twitter:description: "My brain was slower than my mouth" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76e8eeec3f35727c/69887827cd1bba49816fed6f/gettyimages-468502316.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Maine Governor Sorry for 'White Girl' Remarks > Sponsored content. 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Nine Republican presidential candidates faced off for the fifth Republican debate on CNN_ by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 8, 2016 4:03 PM UTC  Maine Governor Paul LePage holds a Town Hall Meeting to discuss his tax reform plan at Thornton Academy in Saco. Maine Governor Paul LePage holds a Town Hall Meeting to discuss his tax reform plan at Thornton Academy in Saco. Portland Press Herald—Press Herald via Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 8, 2016 4:03 PM UTC Maine Gov. [Paul LePage](http://time.com/3943271/chris-christie-paul-lepage/) [apologized](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/maine-gov-paul-lepage-apologizes-racist-remark-n492776) Friday for [racially charged remarks](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/07/gov-paul-lepage-of-maine-a-christie-supporter-makes-racially-charged-remarks/) that implied black drug traffickers were coming into his state and impregnating white women, even as he faulted the media for focusing more on his rhetorical failings than the drug epidemic itself. “My brain was slower than my mouth,” LePage, a Republican, told reporters in Augusta, Maine. But he didn’t back down from his stance that out-of-state drug traffickers are a problem. “Get your heads out of the sand please. Help us,” LePage said. “I’m sorry I’m not like you guys, but I have a heart. I have a heart for Maine people.” “Personally, I don’t really care what the press thinks about me,” he added. “What I do care is I want the drug dealers to know I’m after them…I want the Maine people to know that I may have a slip of the tongue but my heart is to protect Maine people and that’s the end of the story.” LePage’s comments Wednesday were an unwelcome political headache for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential campaign. [LePage was one of the first governor to endorse Christie’s White House run](http://time.com/3943271/chris-christie-paul-lepage/), and Christie has campaigned for LePage and praised his leadership. LePage was [responding to a question](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/politics/paul-lepage-maine-heroin/) at a town hall Wednesday about his administration’s efforts to combat the state’s growing drug problem, when he used racially-charged language to describe out-of-state drug dealers who wreck havoc and then flee, [the Portland _Press Herald_](http://www.pressherald.com/2016/01/07/lepage-accused-of-making-racist-comment-at-bridgton-meeting/) reports. “These aren’t the people who take drugs,” LePage said at the time. “These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty. These type of guys. They come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home. 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’ve go to deal with down the road.” A spokesman for LePage quickly said the governor comments [weren’t about race](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/politics/paul-lepage-maine-heroin/), rather that he was addressing what is a growing problem for Maine. But LePage faced widespread criticism for the remarks. –_With reporting by Philip Elliot_ ## Transcript Welcome to the CNN Facebook Republican Presidential Debate I think defeat terrorism by showing them that we do not fear them. I fought my way to the top of corporate America while being called every b- word in the book. Our freedom is under attack. Our economy is under water. The leading Democrat is under investigation. And America is under the gun to lead the free world. To protect our civilized way of life. Border security is national security and we will not be admitting jihadist as refugees. We are not talking about isolation. We're talking about security. We're not talking about religion. We're talking about security. This is the most sophisticated terror group, That is every threat in the world to the United States of America. They are actively recruiting Americans. The attacker in San Bernardino was an American citizen. First and foremost, we need to go and destroy ISIS. And we need to do this with our Arab friends, and our friends in Europe. We are not any safer through the bolt collection of every Americans records. In fact I think we're less safe. We have to get rid of all this PC stuff and people are worried about somebody's gonna say that I'm Islamaphobic or what have you. This is craziness. If want to destroy radical Islamic terrorism we can't disassociate ourselves from peace loving Muslims. If we expect to do this on our own, we will fail. The bureaucratic procedures are so far behind, our government has become incompetent, unresponsive, corrupt. And, that incompetence, ineptitude, lack of accountability Accountability is now dangerous. I would certainly be open to closing areas where we are at war with somebody. I sure as hell don't wanna let people that wanna kill us and kill our nation use our internet. Moron. Would you carpet bomb Raqqa, the ISIS capital, where there are a lot of civilians? Yes or no? You would carpet bomb where ISIS is, not a city but the location of the troop. They may not care much about their lives, but they do care, believe it or not, about their families lives. The idea that that is a solution to this is just, is just crazy. Donald, you're not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency. That's not gonna happen. We have to do one thing at a time. We can't be fighting ISIS and fighting Asad. We have to get rid of ISIS first. We need to focus our attention on Iran, because if you miss Iran, you're not gonna get ISIS. For the Russians Frankly, it's time that we punched the Russians in the nose. I didn't say I would cut off all communication with Putin. What I said was, as President of the United States, now is not the time to talk with him. The biggest problem we have today is nuclear proliferation and having some maniac, having some madman go out And yet a nuclear weapon. I, personally, am open to allowing people apply for a green card. Border security is national security. When you're letting people in, when the FBI can't vet them, it puts American citizens at risk. People can come into the country, we welcome people to come in, but they have to come in legally. Charity's about giving your own money, charity isn't giving someone else's money. To put everyone on government housing and food stamps, and bring them in from around the world I think is a mistake. I'm not gonna let Syrian refugees, any Syrian refugees, in this country. And it was widows and orphans by the way. And we now know from watching the San Bernardino attack that women can commit heinous, heinous acts. What I can tell you is all nine of the people here Would make an infinitely better Commander in Chief than Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. [ APPLAUSE ] To take our country back, to keep our nation safe, we have to begin by beating Hillary Clinton. Gotten to know him over the last three or four days. He has a wonderful temperament. [ LAUGH ] [ APPLAUSE ] He's just fine, don't worry. About it. Okay. Nothing works in our country. If I'm elected president, we will win again. We will win a lot. 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