Summary:
President Donald Trump is demanding a āfull throated apologyā from Maine Gov. Janet Mills in his spat with the state over transgender athletes, implying his administration will continue to target the state unless he gets one.
The Democratic governor got into an argument with the president during a governorsā meeting at the White House in February, telling the president āweāll see you in courtā when he threatened to pull federal funding from the state if it failed to comply with his order to ban trans athletes from playing in womenās and girls sports.
His administration subsequently opened overlapping investigations into Maine, including probes launched by the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services and Agriculture.
The president in a Saturday morning Truth Social post demanded Mills deliver a āfull throated apologyā for her earlier comments and promise to never pose a āchallengeā to the federal government again.
āWhile the State of Maine has apologized for their Governorās strong, but totally incorrect, statement about men playing in womenās sports while at the White House House Governorās Conference, we have not heard from the Governor herself, and she is the one that matters in such cases,ā Trump wrote. āTherefore, we need a full throated apology from the Governor herself, and a statement that she will never make such an unlawful challenge to the Federal Government again, before this case can be settled.ā
It was not clear what apology from the state of Maine he was referencing, or what apparent case was being settled. The White House declined to comment on the presidentās post or clarify what consequences the governor and her state could face for not apologizing.
If this would have been literally any other President in this countryās history, heād have been impeached before the weekās out. Even the most polarized pre-MAGA Republicans wouldnāt have put up with that shit. But here we are.
And with that said, thereās a non-zero chance that Mills bends the knee. So far, every time there has been an opportunity for Democrats (or anyone else, for that matter) to put up some opposition, they have rolled over and played dead at the slightest whiff of pressure.
We canāt risk upsetting the fascists says Democrats.