The Latest: Maine governor’s daughter hired by Trump, Pence

NORTH BERWICK, Maine – The Latest on comments by Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

The daughter of Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage has been hired by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and vice-presidential candidate Mike Pence.

Lauren LePage was named the state’s coalitions director for Trump and Pence on Wednesday.

Trump’s campaign director for Maine says Lauren LePage will work with various groups to get his supporters to the polls in November.

Lauren LePage is a third-year law student at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland. She previously served as executive director of a political group that aimed to advance Paul LePage’s agenda and has served as the governor’s assistant chief of staff.

Maine has four electoral college votes.

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4 p.m.

Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage says the father of a dead Muslim U.S. Army captain is a “con artist” for criticizing GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

LePage made the comments Wednesday on a program hosted by Boston radio personality Howie Carr.

LePage referenced Khizr (KY’-zur) Khan, whose son was killed while protecting other soldiers in Iraq. Khan appeared at the Democratic National Convention and held up a copy of the U.S. Constitution while criticizing Trump.

Maine Public Broadcasting Network reports LePage’s comments came after Carr drew a comparison between the Boston Marathon bombers and an Iranian refugee who moved to Maine and later died fighting for the Islamic State group.

LePage says Khan “uses the death of his son” to go after Trump.

Khan accuses Trump of smearing the character of Muslims.

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9 a.m.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is in hot water once again for comments about drug dealers arrested in the state, saying photos he’s collected show more than 90 per cent of them are black or Hispanic.

The Portland Press Herald reports the Republican governor made the reference Wednesday at a town hall in North Berwick. A businessman asked how he could bring a company to Maine, “given the rhetoric you put out there about people of colour.”

LePage says he keeps a three-ringed binder of photos from drug busts and most “are black and Hispanic people from Waterbury, Connecticut; the Bronx; and Brooklyn.”

Some called his comments racially charged. LePage, who’s white, says he’s not racist.

In January, LePage said drug dealers with names like “D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty” are getting Maine’s white girls pregnant.