Gov. Paul LePage said Tuesday that he may take legal action in response to  an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald that alleged he had problems with substance abuse.

He said that on his weekly radio appearance on WVOM, in response to a Labor Day weekend op-ed published in the Portland Press Herald/Maine SundayTelegram after LePage’s controversial remarks about black and Hispanic drug dealers and his profane voicemail to a Democratic lawmaker who criticized him.

The op-ed from substance abuse counselor Steve Bentley was published in print and posted online, but it was later taken down and replaced with an editor’s notesaying it didn’t meet the newspaper’s standards. The publishing of the piece was heavily criticized, including here at the Daily Brief.

But on Tuesday, LePage told radio host Ric Tyler that he has been advised not to discuss it because “there might be a very large lawsuit about it” and that he is considering “options” in response to the op-ed.

Now, people hint at lawsuits all the time, so don’t take this too seriously until it’s in court. But if LePage is serious, this could be a libel case, which would be hard for a public figure such as LePage to win.

To do so, he’d have to prove “actual malice,” established by courts as meaning false information was published with the publisher either knowing it was false or acting with “reckless disregard” for a statement’s truth.

Also on Tuesday, LePage dismissed criticism of his administration’s decision to privatize administration of a work training program, which puts 51 state jobs on the chopping block.

He said displaced workers could apply for jobs with the new contractor, New York City-based Fedcap Rehabilitation Services, and he didn’t understand what all the “hoopla” was about.