Maine Governor Apologizes for Racist Remarks About Drug Dealers Impregnating "Young, White" Women by Denying Racism

"If you want to make it racist," Gov. LePage said, "go ahead and do what you want."

Maine Governor Paul LePage, certainly no stranger to the task of delivering bafflingly stupid remarks, is back in headlines this week thanks to his thoughts regarding so-called heroin dealers who are apparently coming to his state not only to unload some drugs, but also to impregnate white women.

"These are guys with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty," LePage told a town hall audience on Wednesday night in Bridgton, the Portland Press Herald reports. "These types of guys, they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here, they sell their heroin, they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we have another issue we have to deal with down the road."

Take a moment to check your calendars. It is indeed the year 2016 and, though it pains the brain to admit it, society is still tasked with dealing with this kind of nonsense. Thankfully, the outcry against LePage's offensive remarks was swift and relentless. "LePage's racist rants sadly distract from efforts to address one of our nation's most pressing problems," a Hillary Clinton spokesperson tells NBC News. "It’s outrageous," Phil Bartlett, chairman of the Maine Democratic Party, tells the Herald. "Everybody should be denouncing his comments and what they’re intended to provoke. I would call upon all Republicans to stand up and say this is wrong and it’s not acceptable in our public discourse. It’s simply indefensible."

LePage, apparently feeling the wrath of his own ridiculousness, formally apologized on Friday morning during a press conference. Of course, by "formally apologized," we simply mean he admitted the existence of the quotes before essentially placing the blame on journalists who called him out. "I was going impromptu and my brain didn't catch up to my mouth," LePage told reporters, as quoted by NBC News. "Instead of Maine women I said white women." Adding that Maine is "95 percent white," LePage then delivered the predictable blame toss:

"If I was perfect, I would be a reporter. If you want to make it racist, go ahead and do what you want."

A few years ago, LePage was reportedly overheard at a private event saying President Barack Obama somehow "hates white people," which of course is preposterous. LePage, according to NBC, repeatedly denied such claims.

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