Maine official forced out for race, other remarks

He added: "To make comments like civil rights and affirmative action are the scourge of why we're at where we're at with our economy, why we're at where we're at with our educational system, and make references that those things are declining because of that goes to a whole new level beyond insensitive in my mind."

LePage issued a brief statement Friday about Congdon's departure, one day after saying he had no comment because it was a personnel issue.

"I do not condone or tolerate the appearance of this type of behavior and I will not accept distractions from my jobs-creation agenda," LePage said.

LePage himself has come under criticism for comments that have been called insensitive.

While on the campaign trail last fall, LePage said he'd tell the president to "go to hell." Shortly after taking office in January, he called the NAACP a special interest group and told critics to "kiss my butt" over his decision to not attend the NAACP's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations.

He later caused a stink by dismissing the dangers of bisphenol-A, a chemical additive used in some plastic bottles, saying the worst that could happen was "some women may have little beards."