This week, Matt and Montana talk about the visit by Vice President J.D. Vance to Bangor on Thursday. The trip was for multiple purposes, including to highlight Maine’s failure to fight against fraud, as well as to show the White House’s support for Paul LePage and Susan Collins in the 2026 elections.
While he was here, Vance had some very complimentary things to say about The Maine Wire, with Steve Robinson, Jon Fetherston and Seamus Othot all receiving recognition as Vance discussed MaineCare fraud, Medicaid abuse and government accountability. We talk about the visit, the issue of fraud, and much more.
We also take some time to review the state of play in Maine’s gubernatorial race. Matt recently had the chance to interview most of the major candidates on the Democratic side, which left both he and Montana with a variety of impressions. We also take a look at what we think is really going on in the Republican primary, and speculate about multiple different scenarios we may see play out next month.
Finally, we couldn’t resist talking about the couple who moved to Bangor from Texas to escape climate change, only to discover people sleeping on their porch and leaving feces behind. Worry not, though, the inconvenience has not dampened their love of Bangor.
All this and more on this week’s Pine Tree Pulse.
