Maine Gov. Paul LePage garnered much media attention last week when he responded to the NAACP’s criticism of his planned non-participation in certain Martin Luther King Day events with a terse “kiss my butt.”
LePage — who on Monday ended up paying a visit to an MLK Day event after all — defended his decision last week by saying he has a black son.
“Tell them to kiss my butt. If they want, they can look at my family picture. My son happens to be black, so they can do whatever they’d like about it.”
This declaration drew focus onto LePage’s relationship with the young man. And as the Portland Press Herald reports, the young man who LePage called his son — Devon Raymond Jr. — isn’t technically his son. It remains unclear exactly how close the two are, or were — or what the exact nature of their relationship is.
They met in Jamaica through Raymond’s father, who caddied for LePage during a vacation, said Dan Demeritt, LePage’s spokesperson, according to the newspaper. Raymond moved in with the LePage family in 2002.
Raymond is neither a U.S. citizen nor has he been formally adopted by LePage, the Press Herald reports.
Raymond — who is also a golfer — began college at Husson University (LePage’s alma mater), playing golf and studying sports management, according to the report.
He graduated from Grambling State University in Louisiana with a degree in kinesiology. After working briefly as a golf pro in North Carolina, Ramond is now a graduate student in business administration at the University of Louisiana-Monroe, the Press Herald reports.
LePage’s office was unavailable for comment at press time.
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
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