Maine Gov. Paul LePage explained his endorsement of Donald Trump March 5 during the Lincoln County Republican Presidential Caucus in Wiscasset. LePage addressed  over 700 voters who attended the quadrennial event in selecting the GOP’s 2016 presidential nominee.

In 2015, LePage was torn between governors Chris Christie of New Jersey and Jeb Bush of Florida. LePage’s first choice was Christie, but neither candidate survived beyond the South Carolina Primary held Feb. 20.

“I believe the best presidents come from the governorships,” LePage said. “I endorsed Chris Christie and also thought Jeb Bush had the skills necessary to be president, then I went to Trump.”

LePage prefers governors as presidential candidates because as chief executives they’re responsible for making decisions, not voting on proposed legislation. Trump has never run for office. But LePage believes his business experience makes him the GOP’s best candidate.

“He’s not an everyday politician. He’s a businessman,” LePage said. “He understands finances and what it takes to turn a struggling organization around. We’re $19 trillion in debt and we can’t put our children and grand kids further in debt.”

LePage believes Ohio Gov. John Kasich is well-suited for the presidency, but said he, like the other eight current or past GOP governors who ran, is seen as part of the political establishment.

“This just wasn’t the year to be a part of the establishment,” LePage said.

He also has concerns about nominating first term U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida. Neither Cruz, 47, or Rubio, 45, has served a full term in the Senate.

LePage gave an impromptu history lesson on how first-term U.S. Senators fared in the White House. Only three presidents came directly from the Senate to the White House: Warren Harding, John Kennedy and Barack Obama.

“Remember Tea Pot Dome? LePage asked. “That didn’t work out too well.”

LePage admired Kennedy as a child, but said JFK’s premature death left his record incomplete. Then LePage turned his attention to the current White House occupant, President Obama.

“Our nation’s foreign policy over the past eight years has been horrible,” he said. “He went to the Senate as a community activist. He’s destroyed the military, destroyed our reputation around the world, and our companies are leaving the country in droves.”

According to LePage, Trump is the GOP’s best choice because the billionaire — currently managing 120 projects worldwide — is a successful, tough negotiator and, like himself, a little brash.

“Most importantly he can make decisions and does it everyday,” LePage said.

Trump’s leading challengers for the GOP nomination are Cruz and Rubio.

“They’re both junior senators. I think that’s an important fact in considering them,” LePage said.

LePage also gave an unflattering critique of the two Democratic presidential candidates.

“It’s important that we win the presidency. The other side has a senator who was an obscure socialist until age 72. And the other person has one foot in jail, and the other, in the White House. I don’t know what will happen first the election or her indictment,” LePage said.

LePage also believes Trump’s outsider status will enable him to fix problems others can’t.

“Politicians can’t challenge the system from the inside. It has to come from the outside. Donald Trump isn’t afraid of challenging the system and neither am I,” he said.

LePage and Christie are the only current Republican governors who have endorsed Trump.

But Gov. LePage’s endorsement failed to earn Trump a Maine Caucus victory. Cruz won the Maine Caucus and the Lincoln County vote defeating Trump who finished second in both contests.