maine gov paul lepage

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LePage: Maybe "we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law..."

LePage on Trump in leaked tape: "I'd be the first one to say, not a guy ideally I'd want my daughter going after."

CNN  — 

Maine Gov. Paul LePage stood by Donald Trump in a radio interview on Tuesday, saying that the United States might need someone like the GOP nominee to show “authoritarian power,” and dismissing concerns over an audiotape leaked last week that showed Trump describing how he forces himself upon women.

“Sometimes, I wonder that our Constitution is not only broken, but we need a Donald Trump to show some authoritarian power in our country and bring back the rule of law because we’ve had eight years of a president, he’s an autocrat, he just does it on his own, he ignores Congress and every single day, we’re slipping into anarchy,” LePage said on Maine radio station WVOM.

He also dismissed concerns over an audiotape leaked last week that showed Trump describing how he forces himself upon women.

“And you know, the bottom line. The bottom line is this,” LePage said of Trump. “Is he a slimeball? I’d be the first one to say, not a guy ideally I’d want my daughter going after. But I will tell you one thing, as the head of state, is he going to protect our nation and fight the debt or is he going to go after interns? That’s the bottom line.”

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LePage also said that Trump’s children were a positive testament to his character, before criticizing Hillary Clinton.

“I heard a lady the other day and I couldn’t,” LePage said. “I was so infuriated, I didn’t even wait to get her name. She was saying how bad Donald Trump is. How do you gauge a man’s heart? Is really my question. And I’ll tell you this. I’ll tell you how I gauge my heart. I look at my kids and if they’re successful and they’re moving in the right direction I’m a happy camper. Because that’s who I live for. And so I think if you look at Donald Trump and you see his kids you’re pretty pleased to see what you see in front of you. Then on the other hand, you look at a presidential candidate who’s been around since the ’90s, who has been after one fraudulent activity after another.”

He added of the former President Clinton, “I’m sorry guys, but there was smudge on the blue dress! And that was by a president of the United States of America.”