PORTLAND, Maine -- Critics are putting pressure on blunt-talking Maine Gov. Paul LePage to apologize for referring to the Internal Revenue Service as "the new Gestapo."

The Republican governor made the remark in his weekend radio address, criticizing the Supreme Court ruling that upheld President Barack Obama's health care law. He said it gives Americans no choice but to buy health insurance or "pay the new Gestapo _ the IRS."

The Anti-Defamation League's regional director called LePage's remark "hurtful and inappropriate." Derrek Shulman says comparisons to the Nazi police force have no place in politics or anywhere else.

LePage had no immediate comment Monday.

Since taking office last year, LePage has stirred outrage with remarks about labor unions, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, state government middle managers and Obama.