Quoting anonymous White House advisers, The Washington Post reports that President Trump plans to call Maine Gov. Paul LePage and ask him to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by independent Sen. Angus King.
This, after LePage announced last May that he was not interested in running. In a brief interview outside his office Thursday, this was the governor's response when asked about the report: “It's fake news!”
According to the Post, LePage’s name came up during a discussion by the President and his advisors about potential candidates in several states, including Maine.
When asked if calling it fake news was all he was going to say, LePage made it clear he doesn’t want to talk about it, 'cause it’s a personal matter and you guys shouldn’t be bothering me about this.”
King is considered by most observers to be a strong incumbent, and national Republican leaders are worried about losing control of the Senate in next year’s elections. That's why they're working hard to recruit challengers.
Last summer former Trump aide Steve Bannon even floated LePage’s wife, Anne, as a candidate for the Senate. She has said her husband is the one that entered politics and she is less than enthusiastic about politics in general.
The only announced Republican candidate for King's Senate seat is state Sen. Eric Brakey of Auburn.
