LePage met with student protesters at Colby College event

WATERVILLE — An appearance by former Republican Gov. Paul LePage at Colby College was met with a mixed response from those in attendance Wednesday night.

LePage, who was Waterville’s mayor from 2004-2011, was invited to campus by the Colby College Republicans to give a talk bearing the name of his old campaign slogan, “People Before Politics.” About 50 students protested the event by silently holding signs — mostly with controversial quotes that have been attributed to LePage — in the atrium of the Diamond Building, where the event was held, as well as around the perimeter of Ostrove Auditorium while he spoke.

During an approximately 20-minute speech and wide-ranging 40-minute question-and-answer period, the politician teased a run for governor in 2022.

“The deal I made with my wife is very simple,” he said. “If I buy her a pickup truck and I learn to like country western, she won’t stand in my way. I have bought her the pickup truck and I’m starting to listen to country western.”

The comment drew some applause and an audible, “Oh, boy.”

Read more: https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/10/23/lepage-met-with-student-protesters-at-colby-college-event/
(Lewiston Sun Journal)