By Eric Russell erussell@pressherald.com 
 
 Staff Writer 
 
 Gov. Paul LePage told a group of Republican lawmakers and political supporters during a fundraiser on Aug. 12 that President Barack Obama “hates white people,” according to an attendee of the event. The attendee described the governor’s comments as plainspoken and tacked onto the end of remarks to the group that were critical of the Affordable Care Act, the president’s health care reform bill commonly referred to as “Obamacare.” 
 
 The fundraiser was sponsored by the Kennebec County Republican Committee and was held at the private home of John and Lisa Fortier in Belgrade. Between 50 and 60 people attended, including several sitting Republican lawmakers, representatives from Sen. Susan Collins’ office and the new chairman of the Republican Party, Rick Bennett. The lawmakers, both Republicans, confirmed the comment when asked by a Portland Press Herald reporter but asked that their names be withheld for fear of political retribution. According to the paper, each said LePage talked about how Obama could have been the best president ever if he highlighted his bi-racial heritage. When asked directly whether the governor made the remark about the president and white people, Bennett said, “I didn’t hear that.” 
 
 In a subsequent conversation, he said, “The governor is not a racist. "I didn't hear him say anything like that," said Willette, who added that he spent most of the event trying to raise money for his candidacy for the 2nd Congressional District seat. Dunphy said the governor made some brief, informal remarks but he doesn't remember hearing anything about the president hating white people. He referred questions to Brent Littlefield, the governor's senior political adviser, who initially wouldn't comment and was not at the event. After the governor's remark was reported in the media, Littlefield issued a statement that said, in part, “It seems farfetched for anyone, even a newspaper, to make an insinuation the governor is racist given his life history." The statement makes reference to Devon Raymond Jr., a Jamaica-born man whom the LePages cared for while he attended high school in Maine: "(LePage) and his family made a choice and sacrifice when they offered Devon the opportunity to join their family many years ago. Paul and Ann call him their son. Paul LePage recognized many people helped him make it out of poverty and he has been determined to help others succeed.” 
 
 The statement also referred to LePage's years of participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast in Waterville.
– Maine's governor managed to make even his fellow Republicans cringe at a fundraiser last week, according to two GOP state lawmakers who were there. Paul LePage was discussing how President Obama blew his chance at being a great president by not touting his biracial heritage—which he hasn't done because, according to LePage, Obama "hates white people." The two sources heard the comment directly, but aren't revealing themselves for fear of retribution, the Portland Press Herald reports. "It was one little thing from a speech," says one, "but I think most people there thought it was totally inappropriate." Asked about it today, LePage denied making the comment, reports Politico. “No I never said that and you guys are all about gossip, goodbye,” said the governor, as quoted by WLBZ 2. Two other lawmakers who attended the Maine Republican Party fundraiser and meet-and-greet on August 12 say they didn't hear the remark; another attendee tells the Bangor Daily News LePage "said President Obama had an opportunity to unify the country on race, but didn’t do anything," but that he didn't hear the supposed "white people" comment. The governor is no stranger to controversial remarks; in 2011, he said the NAACP could "kiss my butt," and last year he compared the IRS to the Gestapo.