Maine Gov. Paul LePage refused to back down today from his recent controversial comments about drug dealers.
LePage defended his remarks during a news conference, saying, "I was going impromptu and my brain didn't catch up to my mouth."
"I'm not going to apologize to the Maine women for that," he added.
LePage instead shifted the blame to the media, urging them to "get [their] heads out of the sand." He accused them of being "in the back pocket" of Maine's bloggers.
"Am I perfect? No. If I was perfect I would be a reporter," LePage said. "If you want to make it racist, go right ahead."
LePage, a Republican, has come under fire for what many see as racist remarks about out-of-state drug dealers. The governor made the remarks during a town hall meeting Wednesday while discussing the state's substance abuse problems.
"These are guys by the name D-Money, Smoothy, Shifty. These type of guys that come from Connecticut and New York. They come up here and sell heroin, then they go back home," he said.
"Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave, which is a real sad thing because then we’ve got another issue we have to deal with down the road," LePage added.
The comments have sparked a firestorm of criticism. A spokesman for the governor told ABC News on Thursday that LePage was not talking about race.
"The Governor is not making comments about race. Race is irrelevant,” Communications Director Peter Steele told ABC News in an email. ”What is relevant is the cost to state taxpayers for welfare and the emotional costs for these kids who are born as a result of involvement with drug traffickers.”
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