Donald Trump mixes up Janet Mills' gender in rambling appeal to Maine supporters

Former President Donald Trump made a series of false statements during a phone call with supporters in Maine on Monday, repeatedly referring to Gov. Janet Mills as “he” and conflating issues affecting the lobster industry.

Trump's call, a recording of which was provided to the Bangor Daily News by someone who opted in, came on the first day early voting was available to people across the state. It showed the Republican presidential candidate was fixated on winning the conservative-leaning 2nd Congressional District for the third time since 2016.

However, what stood out about the call was its content. He spoke for more than 15 minutes and urged his supporters to make a plan to vote for him early. He then veered past issues, including his favorite issue, immigration, while making rare and false attacks on Maine Democrats.

For example, Trump said Maine has a “radical left” governor. His underlying claim was based on a 2019 Mills economic plan that called for an increase in the workforce by 75,000 people within a decade. After Mills called for an Office of New Americans last year, conservative politicians and websites falsely portrayed that the governor was only looking for foreign-born people to achieve that goal.

“He wants to resettle 75,000 migrants in Maine. “That’s only because (Biden and Harris) told him so,” Trump said in the call, repeatedly referring to Mills by the wrong pronoun and saying current immigration policies would turn Maine into a “third world” country . “He's weak and ineffective, and they told him to do this and he says, 'Yes, sir.' Yes, ma'am. I'll do it.'”

A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about the call, which Maine supporters were invited to with a robocall that came in shortly after 6:30 p.m. Monday. The former president has held similar “tele-rallies” to launch early voting in other states, including recently in Virginia.

“He better get used to recognizing women,” Mills responded to Trump on the social media site X. “He’s about to get hit by one.”

Trump began the call by promoting state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, who is running against U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, an endangered Democrat from the 2nd District. He called Theriault “fantastic” and then said Golden voted “virtually 100 percent” with Harris. He opposed President Joe Biden more than any other Democrat in the House last year.

The former president returned to the actions he took regarding the lobster industry during his presidency. During a trip to Bangor in 2020, he signed an executive order opening a national marine monument in the Gulf of Maine to fishing. It bolstered regional fishing interests but had little impact on Maine fishermen because it is well out of reach of Cape Cod.

On Monday, Trump appeared to confuse that 5,000-square-mile area with the so-called gray zone, which covers 277 square miles of Maine's disputed eastern maritime border with Canada. Officials there have recently reported illegal American fishing, while U.S. Border Patrol agents boarded Canadian fishing vessels in 2018 during the Trump administration.

“The Canadians can fish there, but the Americans can’t. We’re going to open it,” Trump said. “You’ll have Maine lobster, right near you. Imagine, 5,000 square miles.”

Trump's call underscored Maine's historic importance to his campaign. He visited the state five times in the run-up to the 2016 elections. Four years later, he landed in an orchard in the Levant less than ten days before election day. Neither Trump nor Harris have visited Maine this year as they compete in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.

On the call, he reiterated his earlier hope of winning the entire state of Maine. Decision Desk HQ, BDN's election results partner, gives him an 84 percent chance of winning the 2nd District, but favors Harris statewide with a 93 percent chance of winning. He said he could return to the state before the election, which is now at odds with Harris.

“If (the liberal 1st District) can go with (the 2nd District), I think we would win the election even more easily,” Trump said.

Correction: An earlier version of this article used an incorrect unit of measurement for a national marine monument in the Gulf of Maine.