Gov. LePage: Marching women should ‘get over yourselves’

Ashley L. Conti | BDN

Ashley L. Conti | BDN

In an interview on a conservative radio station this week (the only media with which Maine’s governor now regularly interacts), Governor Paul LePage had a message for the women who marched in Washington D.C., Portland and Augusta to protest the election of Republican Donald Trump as President.

“I guess it boils down to they still haven’t believed that the election is over and that President Trump is actually the president,” said LePage. “We endured their guy for eight years and we survived, so get over yourselves.”

One of LePage’s allies was even more direct and dismissive in her assessment of the marchers. In an email to members of the Informed Women’s Network, a conservative organization she leads, activist Susan Dench called march participants “harpies” and railed against their “vile” language and “saucy” hats.

“Although many women only seemed to have the vaguest sense of what they were doing there, what they all had in common was victimhood, anger and an apparent hatred of men,” wrote Dench.

Dench was nominated by LePage for a spot on the UMaine System board of trustees in 2014, but her bid was rejected by the Education Committee after she was found to have plagiarized a column she wrote for the Bangor Daily News.

Far from getting over themselves, the women involved in the Maine marches seem to be committed to continuing their activism. For instance, there’s a regular stream of posts and planning of next steps on the event page for the Augusta march even now, almost a week after it was held.

Mike Tipping

About Mike Tipping

Mike is Maine's longest-writing political blogger and explores state politics and policy with a focus on analysis and explanation. He works at the Maine People's Alliance and Maine People's Resource Center.