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Source: Portland Press Herald, MaineAug.迷你倉出租 24--Gov. Paul LePage sent his fellow Republicans a statement late Friday afternoon apologizing for the recent controversy over comments he has been accused of making about President Obama.The statement, obtained by the Portland Press Herald, begins with LePage saying, "My fellow Republicans, I write to you to apologize for any difficulty that remarks recently reported in the press may have caused you."He goes on to say, "Let me be clear, I do not believe that President Obama dislikes any racial group."LePage makes no other reference to Obama and race in the statement. He does not deny making the comment, and goes on to blame newspapers for the controversy, saying that they have attacked him and mischaracterized his comments.The comments in question were made during a Maine Republican Party fundraiser on Aug. 12, at the home of John and Lisa Fortier of Belgrade, where, according to several people who attended, LePage claimed that President Obama "hates white people."Two Republican lawmakers confirmed to the Portland Press Herald Monday that they heard the governor make the comment.Both said the governor made the comment during informal remarks to about 60 people. They said LePage talked about how Obama could have been the best president ever if he had highlighted his biracial heritage. LePage said the president hasn't done that because he hates white people.The Press Herald was the first to report the remark.Both lawmakers asked that their names be withheld because they are concerned about political retribution. Others who attended the event told the Press Herald that they didn't hear the remark.In Friday's statement to Republicans, LePage wrote English wasn't his first language -- French was -- and he's not a polished speaker.He also wrote, "Newspapers owned by politically motivated and powerful elitists relentlessly attack my every word and often mischaracterize my comments. They highlight negativity and partisan finger-pointing while putting important issues in the background--or they fail to report them at all."The "politically motivated and powerful elitists" in the statement is a reference to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and her husband, financier S. Donald Sussman, a contributor to Democratic and charitable causes. 迷你倉ussman is the majority share owner of MaineToday Media, which owns the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and other media outlets in Maine.His statement comes after he denied making the comments earlier this week.Speaking briefly to reporters at the State House on Wednesday, he said, "No, I never said that, and you guys are all about gossip," according to video from WCSH-TV in Portland.The controversy made headlines across the country during a relatively slow national news week, with Congress on its August holiday. LePage was the subject of a profile in The New York Times, and his comments were discussed repeatedly on national news programs on networks such as CNN and MSNBC.LePage, 64, won a three-way race in 2010 with strong Tea Party support.In The New York Times story, LePage is described as making "startlingly blunt assertions" that "could add up to a major vulnerability" for the governor, who is facing re-election next year.Some of those comments include:--In September 2010, before he was elected, he told a group of fishermen at a forum: "As your governor, you're going to be seeing a lot of me on the front page, saying 'Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell.'"--In January 2011, shortly after he was sworn in, he declined an invitation to an event hosted by the NAACP in Portland. When asked what he would tell the group if it questioned his decision, LePage replied, "Tell them to kiss my butt."--In July last year, he compared the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo, the Nazi police.--In June of this year, he said Maine Assistant Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson would be "the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline."In response to LePage's "Vaseline" comments, GOP state Sen. Roger Katz, R-Augusta, wrote a scathing op-ed that appeared in the Portland Press Herald and Bangor Daily News in late June."As a lifelong, proud Republican who was overjoyed to see a Republican elected back into the Blaine House three years ago, I have one thing to say. I am embarrassed," Katz wrote.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine) Visit the Portland Press Herald (Portland, Maine) at .pressherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉