Thursday 18 August 2022 07:34 PM America's self-stylized 'Trump before Trump' Paul LePage threatens to 'deck' ... trends now
A Republican gubernatorial candidate in Maine who once billed himself as 'Donald Trump before Donald Trump' threatened to 'deck' a Democratic staffer during a campaign event over the weekend, new video shows.
Paul LePage, who earned the title of America's 'craziest governor' while leading the state of Maine from 2011 to 2019, is running for his old seat again in November.
The brash former governor has made headlines for outrageous and racist statements in the past, such as infamously joking about bombing one of his state's largest newspapers and claiming 'guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty' are coming to Maine to sell drugs and 'impregnate a young white girl.'
Despite telling reporters in 2019 that he was finished with politics and would 'retire and go to Florida,' LePage has reportedly returned to present a more 'mellowed out' image in order to appeal to the majority moderate voters in his home state.
But that effort was seemingly undercut by a video obtained by the Daily Beast that purports to show LePage threatening someone who caught the ex-governor off-guard as he walked over a puddle of mud at the outdoor event.
LePage, appearing startled at how close the person filming got, says in the recording, 'Six feet away or I'm gonna deck you.'
With one hand the ex-governor points to someone behind the camera, and clutches a donut with the other.
'If you come into my space, you’re going down,' he adds.
Paul LePage is running for his old seat as governor of Maine after having led the state from 2011 to 2019
He's known for making bombastic comments such as joking about attacking a newsroom and telling the NAACP to 'kiss my butt'
Three men wearing LePage's campaign gear chuckle while surrounding the politician.
LePage says at the end of the recording, 'Enough is enough. Six feet away.'
It's not clear what happened before or after the video.
The person who recorded is reportedly a staffer for the Democratic Party of Maryland.
LePage's top campaign adviser Brent Littlefield did not address DailyMail.com's request for more context, but said: 'Paul LePage is not like most people, he was homeless as a child and was forced to live on the streets, overcoming tremendous odds to earn an advanced college degree, become a successful Maine businessman, Mayor, and Governor.'
The Maine GOP told DailyMail.com, 'In a world where we just saw
