Maine Gov. Paul LePage abruptly ended a town hall meeting Thursday night after Joanne Twomey, former Democratic mayor of Biddeford, hurled a jar of Vaseline toward the Republican governor.
Mr. LePage was speaking at the Thornton Academy in Saco about plans to overhaul the state’s tax code, but the meeting came to a halt after Ms. Twomey began shouting at the governor during the question-and-answer session.
Ms. Twomey, who also served as a member of the Maine House of Representatives, approached the stage where the governor was speaking and started shouting until several security guards had to pull her away.
As she was removed from the room, she produced the jar of Vaseline and threw it on the stage. She was not arrested, a local CBS affiliate reported.
“Oh yes, I threw the jar at the stage,” Ms. Twomey told CBS.
Ms. Twomey later defended herself to a local ABC affiliate, arguing she doesn’t agree with the governor’s budget because she believes it disadvantages the poor.
“What he is about to do to this state, you have to be out of order,” she said. “You cannot live with those policies and not speak up.”
Other attendees of the meeting were reportedly split on Ms. Twomey’s outburst.
“That is why we come here, so we can get our point across, just like he likes to get his point across,” Jackie Edwards told the CBS affiliate.
One man asked Ms. Twomey, “Excuse me don’t we have to have order at a meeting and communicate in a polite matter?” the station reported.
A spokesman for Mr. LePage called it an “unfortunate” incident, but “there’s zero tolerance” when it comes to throwing things at the governor.
“She had something in her bag, and it looked like she was reaching for it and they sprang into action,” spokesman Peter Steele told the CBS affiliate.
Ms. Twomey said she she chose a jar of Vaseline to throw because of the governor’s reference nearly two years ago about Democratic state Sen. Troy Jackson.
Mr. LePage said at the time that Mr. Jackson, “claims to be for the people but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline,” CBS reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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