Trump mistakenly calls Maine Gov. Mills a man during campaign call

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to Maine Gov. Janet Mills as “he” during a Monday conference call with Republican backers in the state, according to a recording obtained by the Bangor Daily News.
“He’s weak and ineffective,” Trump said of Mills, a Democrat who is serving her second term, as he criticized her administration’s handling of immigration in the state. He also accused her of trying to “resettle 75,000 migrants” at the Biden administration’s request.
“And they told him to do so, and he’s saying, ‘Yes, sir. Yes, ma’am. I will do it.’”
It wasn’t immediately clear what Trump was referencing. The Associated Press reported that some Republicans have conflated a 2019 economic plan that called for increasing Maine’s workforce by 75,000 people with a separate Office for New Americans created by the state last year.
In response, Mills noted that Trump is running against a woman, Vice President Kamala Harris.
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“He better get used to recognizing women,” Mills said on the social media platform X. “He’s about to get beat by one.”
Trump during the Monday call could be heard making false claims about multiple issues facing the nation and the New England region, including the southern border and territorial challenges in the lobster industry. His remarks came on the first day of early voting in the Pine Tree state.
USA TODAY has reached out to Mills’ office and the Trump campaign for comment.
Trump’s remarks aren’t the only time he’s mixed up references to politicians. During the New Hampshire primary earlier this year, Trump gave a speech in which he meant to criticize former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., but repeatedly referred to her as Republican opponent Nikki Haley.
In Maine, Harris leads statewide polls. But Maine splits up its four electoral votes by congressional district, and Trump has a chance to carry one of those districts. That would give him a single electoral vote that could be important in a close contest this November.