Via the AP: Trump spars with Maine’s governor at the White House over transgender athletes.
The confrontation during the meeting came after Mills and Trump had traded barbs over the last 24 hours regarding his push to bar transgender athletes from playing in girls’ and women’s sports. The confrontation in the State Dining Room was an unusual breach of the typically courteous interactions that lawmakers, even of opposing parties, have historically shared at the White House.
The back-and-forth came in the middle of the president’s remarks welcoming the nation’s governors to the White House. As he was speaking about an executive order he signed earlier this month on transgender athletes, he sought out Mills in the room after singling her out a day earlier in remarks to the Republican Governors Association.
Here’s the interchange.
“Is Maine here, the governor of Maine?” he asked.
“I’m here,” she replied.
“Are you not going to comply with it?” he asked.
“I’m complying with state and federal laws,” Mills replied.
Trump responded, “We are the federal law.” He again threatened the state’s federal funding and said Maine may be a Democratic state but its residents largely agree with him on this issue.
“We’re going to follow the law,” she said.
“You’d better comply,” Trump warned. “Otherwise, you’re not getting any federal funding.”
“We’ll see you in court,” the governor replied.
“Good, I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one,” Trump said. “And enjoy your life after governor because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”
Here is a video clip, as I think hearing himself say “we are the federal law” and his general tone is needed beyond just reading his statement.
Click here for the tweet, as the embed appears not to be working.
This is simply not the way a democratic head of government should behave. This is the way an authoritarian behaves. I am sure many of his fans in the populace will be pleased with his confrontational demeanor, but they are cheering dictatorial behavior.
He is not the “federal law.” Yes, he can issue Executive Orders, but they are challengable in court. EO’s have to conform, ultimately, with what the legislature has passed. Congress is the lawmaker, not the executive. This is the nature of the constitutional order. Maybe he can do what he asserted, and maybe he can’t. I have no informed view on the subject.
Governors/states have every right to challenge an EO in court. Again, this is all part of the constitutional order. There is no defensible reason to call out a political opponent in this manner and to threaten them both in terms of their state’s funding and their specific political future.
Trump continues to demonstrate an authoritarian personality and that he was lying when he would only try and be a dictator on “day one” only (like even that was an okay thing to say).
