Tea Party Gov. to NAACP critics: ‘Kiss my butt’

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The NAACP's state director said the group felt it was being neglected by the new governor, a Republican elected in November with Tea Party support...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s governor is telling critics to “kiss my butt” over his decision not to attend the state NAACP’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations this weekend.

Gov. Paul LePage declined invitations to attend a dinner in Portland on Sunday night and a breakfast in Orono on Monday because of prior commitments.

The NAACP’s state director said the group felt it was being neglected by the new governor, a Republican elected in November with Tea Party support.

When asked by a reporter Friday to respond, LePage said: “Tell them to kiss my butt.”

LePage made news last fall on the campaign trail when he told a group of fishermen that if he were elected, “you’re going to be seeing a lot of me on the front page, saying ‘Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell.’”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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