Stephen King directly calls on LePage to apologize (with financial update)

Stephen King

Stephen King

Yesterday the highly popular and successful writer Stephen King colorfully noted that Gov. LePage was flat wrong when LePage suggested King has a place in Florida so he could avoid paying taxes in Maine.

King wrote:

Governor LePage is full of the stuff that makes the grass grow green. Tabby and I pay every cent of our Maine state income taxes, and are glad to do it. We feel, as Governor LePage apparently does not, that much is owed from those to whom much has been given. We see our taxes as a way of paying back the state that has given us so much. State taxes pay for state services. There’s just no way aRound it. Governor LePage needs to remember there ain’t no free lunch. [source]

And, as I noted yesterday, the governor’s office put out a new version of his weekly radio address that didn’t include his original statement about King. I called it “a welcome corrective action.”

But what the governor didn’t do is to make his own statement about the matter. And he didn’t apologize.

And, in fact, the wording of the statement from the governor’s office left something to be desired.

As Christopher Cousins reported:

“We had to take Stephen King at his word,” said LePage Communications Director Peter Steele. “He said he pays income taxes in Maine so we corrected the radio address.” [source]

Now King has asked for an apology from LePage

In a tweet, King wrote:

Governor Paul LePage implied that I don’t pay my taxes. I do. Every cent. I think he needs to man up and apologize. [source]

In the past, Gov. LePage has not been one for many apologies and certainly not quick ones. When he compared the IRS to the Gestapo, his apology took time to come and included serious misstatements, and came only after he made further statements that didn’t exactly cool down the situation.

Update: King on the “very fair price for living in the most beautiful state in America”

Reporter Steve Mistler asked Stephen King how much money he and his wife paid in taxes.

On March 19, King emailed Mistler about his taxes plus his donations in Maine. King wrote:

In 2013, my wife and I paid approximately 1.4 million (dollars) in state taxes,” King said in an email to the Portland Press Herald on Friday night. “As this is a matter of public record, I have no problem telling you that. I would imagine 2014 was about the same, but I do not have those figures.

In addition, the King Foundation gives grants from three to five million dollars annually, mostly in Maine. We consider this a very fair price for living in the most beautiful state in America. [source]

Amy Fried

About Amy Fried

Amy Fried loves Maine's sense of community and the wonderful mix of culture and outdoor recreation. She loves politics in three ways: as an analytical political scientist, a devoted political junkie and a citizen who believes politics matters for people's lives. Fried is Professor of Political Science at the University of Maine. Her views do not reflect those of her employer or any group to which she belongs.