Maine Politicians Take a Break from Governing to Have Vaseline Fight

A town hall held by Maine Governor Paul LePage ended a little early after an enraged former mayor tossed a jar of Vaseline at him. Nothing could make me happier than the preceding sentence. Literally nothing could be funnier than politicians throwing Vaseline at other politicians. This is pretty much direct confirmation that God is real.

Local news station WGME reports that Governor LePage and former Biddeford mayor Joanne Twomey — she’ll be the lady in the green blazer in the video below — got into a shouting match during the Q&A portion of a Thursday town hall. The two were having an exchange about LePage’s tax plan — he plans to cut various taxes for the wealthiest Mainers, including the income and estate taxes, while at the same time allowing municipalities to tax nonprofit organizations.

Here’s what Twomey thinks of LePage’s claim that no one in the state will pay income tax by 2020, starting at the two-minute mark or so:

Really, Twomey just sort of tossed the Vaseline onto the stage as she was being dragged out, rather than scoring a direct hit. (An aide to the governor quickly picked up the jar and hustled it out of sight.) As the Press Herald explains, she was making a reference to a 2013 statement by LePage that a Democratic state senator “claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.”

As the Huffington Post points out, Governor LePage, a true charmer, recently caused a firestorm for saying “that undocumented immigrants were spreading diseases and for accusing novelist Stephen King of leaving the state to avoid paying taxes.” Twomey also seems unrepentant — here she is after the meeting:

In a truly just and democratic society, politicians would resolve all their differences with Vaseline fights.

Image via Shutterstock

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