On March 1, 2015, the Maine Democratic Party started a petition against Willette, asking for his withdrawal from the Maine Senate for posting a controversial meme that many Democrats found to be racist, and defaming. The meme showed a picture of
Barack Obama which captioned: "Why haven't I done anything about ISIS? Because I will deal with them at the family reunion." He later apologized for posting the meme publicly, but not for the content itself. It was further revealed by liberal activist Mike Tipping, who posted the initial reports of the meme to his
Bangor Daily News blog, that Willette's Facebook page has a history of racist and anti-Muslim postings, some of which perpetuate the belief that President Obama is a Muslim. Willette apologized and asked for forgiveness for his posts on the Senate floor on March 11, stating that he had been disappointed by Obama since voting for him in 2008 and that his frustration led him to make his posts. He also stated that he did not subscribe to
Birther theories about Obama not being born in the United States and has no hostility towards Muslims or immigrants, as well as adding "I am as far from being a racist as you can get". The Maine branch of the
NAACP stated his apology was insufficient. Senate Democrats met with
Senate President Michael Thibodeau to request some sort of public rebuke of Willette's posts, such as a legislative resolution, but Thibodeau told reporters that he found the apology sufficient to settle the matter. Willette told reporters that he would not resign. The Maine Republican Party issued a statement stating it "disagrees with the substance, spirit and sentiment" of Willette's posts, while also criticizing
Maine Democratic Party calls for Willette's resignation by stating that Democrats are "throwing stones from glass houses" as they had made similar controversial comments about Vice President
Dick Cheney and President
George W. Bush. Willette resigned his chairmanship of the Legislature's State and Local Government Committee on March 25, 2015, something the Portland chapter of the
NAACP had called for since March 20. Willette had no comment to the media on the matter, but Sen. Thibodeau said that "Sen. Willette recognized that maybe it’s time to turn the page" and commended him for putting the Legislature's interests ahead of his own. ==References==