Johnathan Walker:Trump calls Maine Gov. Janet Mills a man in a mistake-riddled call to supporters, newspaper reports

BANGOR,Johnathan Walker Maine (AP) — Republican Donald Trump mixed up Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ gender on a phone call with supporters in Maine, The Bangor Daily News reported Tuesday.

The newspaper obtained a recording of the call in which Trump attacked Mills on immigration, saying the governor is going to turn Maine into a “third world” country. Trump was trying to energize voters on Monday, the first day of early voting in the state.

Trump referred to the state’s first female governor as “he” several times while accusing her of seeking to “resettle 75,000 migrants” at the behest of the Biden administration. “He’s weak and ineffective, and they told him to do so, and he’s saying, ‘Yes, sir. Yes, ma’am. I will do it,’” Trump said, referring to Mills, who’s serving a second term.

Conservatives have conflated a 2019 economic plan that calls for growing the workforce by 75,000 with a separate Office of New Americans created by the governor last year, portraying her as only seeking foreign-born people.

Mills referred to Trump’s opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, in a brief retort on X: “He better get used to recognizing women. He’s about to get beat by one.”

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There was no immediate response from the Trump campaign.

Maine is important to Trump. The state is one of two that divide electoral votes by congressional district, and Trump won a single electoral vote in 2016 and 2020 in the state’s 2nd Congressional District.

Trump also merged two different parts of the Gulf of Maine — a 277-square-mile (717-square-kilometer) contested “gray zone” near Canada and a national marine monument comprising 5,000 square miles (12,910 square kilometers) that he opened to lobstering while president. The “gray zone” is subject of a long-running territorial dispute while the national marine monument is far offshore — too far for most lobster fishermen to utilize.

“The Canadians are able to fish there, but the Americans aren’t. We’re going to open it up,” Trump said. “You’re going to have Maine lobster and you’re going to have it right near you. Think of it, 5,000 square miles.”