"The traffickers -- these aren't people who take drugs. These are guys by the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty," he said. "These type of guys that come from Connecticut and New York. They come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home."

AD

He continued: "Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave. Which is the real sad thing, because then we have another issue that we have to deal with down the road."

AD

A spokesman for the governor provided a statement to the Bangor Daily News's Michael Shepherd.

LePage has endorsed Gov. Chris Christie in his party's presidential nomination contest.

The same evening that LePage made his comments, the Maine DEA arrested three people in Maine for trafficking heroin. All three were white. (The state of Maine is about 94 percent white.) The alleged traffickers' names are James, Jody and Donna.

AD

The town hall was rebroadcast on Thursday night by Lake Region Television and streamed online.

The campaign of Hillary Clinton issued a statement in response to LePage's comments. It reads, in part: "Governor LePage's comments tonight are not only offensive and hurtful but they try to cover up the very real epidemic of drug abuse facing people in his state and across the country. LePage’s racist rants sadly distract from efforts to address one of our nation’s most pressing problems."

The Democratic party has called on Christie to renounce LePage's comments.