American politics 2016
By The scenario Karl Rove outlined was bleak.
Addressing a luncheon of Republican governors and donors in Washington on Feb. 19, he warned that Donald J. Trump’s increasingly likely nomination would be catastrophic, dooming the party in November. But Mr. Rove, the master strategist of George W. Bush’s campaigns, insisted it was not too late for them to stop Mr. Trump, according to three people present.
At a meeting of Republican governors the next morning, Paul R. LePage of Maine called for action. Seated at a long boardroom table at the Willard Hotel, he erupted in frustration over the state of the 2016 race, saying Mr. Trump’s nomination would deeply wound the Republican Party. Mr. LePage urged the governors to draft an open letter “to the people,” disavowing Mr. Trump and his divisive brand of politics.
The suggestion was not taken up.
Maine Gov. Paul LePage endorsed Donald Trump for president Friday, lending the GOP front-runner the backing of another northeastern governor on the same day Chris Christie offered his support.
“I’ll be very honest. I originally said I’d like it to be a governor, but unfortunately, the American people are not going for a governor this year. So I’m going to endorse Donald Trump,” LePage said on the “Howie Carr Show,” a syndicated talk radio show based in Boston.
LePage endorsed Christie in July, but switched gears after Christie dropped out of the race. LePage’s endorsement comes mere hours after Christie endorsed Trump at a rally in Texas.
“I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular. So I think I should support him since we’re one of the same cloth,” said LePage, an outspoken politician whose comments have often thrown him in the spotlight — just like Trump.