The Latest: LePage says NAACP should apologize to whites


              FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 file photo Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage, right, and House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, attend the Electoral College vote at the State House in Augusta, Maine. The Republican governor on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, addressed Lewis' criticism that GOP President-elect Donald Trump is not a "legitimate president." LePage, who's white, said on WVOM-FM that the black Democratic Georgia congressman needs a lesson on how presidents freed the slaves and fought against Jim Crow laws. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 file photo Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage, right, and House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, attend the Electoral College vote at the State House in Augusta, Maine. The Republican governor on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, addressed Lewis' criticism that GOP President-elect Donald Trump is not a "legitimate president." LePage, who's white, said on WVOM-FM that the black Democratic Georgia congressman needs a lesson on how presidents freed the slaves and fought against Jim Crow laws. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The Latest on Gov. Paul LePage's comments about John Lewis and the NAACP (all times local):

3:10 p.m.

Hours after saying civil rights leader John Lewis should be grateful for what Republican presidents have done for black people, Maine Gov. Paul LePage says the NAACP should apologize to white people.

The white GOP governor told the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/2j4Ywmt) that "the blacks, the NAACP" paint all white people with one brush and that calling every white American a racist is an "insult."

Earlier Tuesday, LePage criticized Lewis over his comments that Republican Donald Trump is not a "legitimate president." LePage said Lewis needed a history lesson and then incorrectly said that GOP Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes fought against Jim Crow laws.

The president of the NAACP Portland branch says it's unfortunate LePage tried to revise history and disparage a civil rights leader.

___

10 a.m.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage says civil rights leader John Lewis needs a history lesson and should be grateful for what Republican presidents have done for black people.

The Republican governor on Tuesday addressed Lewis' criticism that GOP President-elect Donald Trump is not a "legitimate president." LePage, who's white, said on WVOM-FM that the black Democratic Georgia congressman needs a lesson on how Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and how Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes fought against Jim Crow laws.

LePage says, "A simple thank you would suffice."

Lincoln pushed for the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. But historians say that Jim Crow laws didn't exist during the Grant administration and that Hayes' presidency set the stage for the creation of Jim Crow laws.

___

This story has been corrected to show LePage said, "A simple thank you would suffice," not "A simple thank you should suffice."

Upcoming Events