LOS ANGELES (MCT) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage has refused to give in to demands that he apologize for comparing the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo, but he said he never intended to insult anyone or “minimize” the misdeeds carried out by Nazi Germany’s secret police force.

LePage triggered controversy when he blasted President Barack Obama’s health care program during his weekly radio address: “We the people have been told there is no choice. You must buy health insurance or pay the new Gestapo — the IRS.”