Confronting Trump’s second term, Healey says she asks, ‘How the hell did we get here?’ – The Boston Globe

Since returning to the White House, the Republican Trump has targeted Democratic governors, including Janet Mills of Maine. His threats to withhold federal funding from states demonstrate the potential stakes Democratic leaders face if they run afoul of Trump.

Healey described witnessing Trump’s attack last month on Mills over his executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girl’s sports.

Addressing Mills at a White House event, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine unless the state abides by the order. Mills responded that Maine would follow state and federal laws, which Healey called the “right answer.”

“What I saw as so upsetting in that exchange was when he looked at her, and I was sitting at the table, and he leered at her, and he said, ‘We are the federal law,’” Healey told the Times. “I heard somebody who thinks he’s king.”

A day after the confrontation with Mills, the Trump administration’s “border czar” accused Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox of failing to target criminals who are in the country illegally. Tom Homan vowed to visit the city and to bring “hell with me.”

Healey told the Times she doesn’t know what Homan was talking about, but said she would meet with him if he visits Boston.

Healey said Homan’s threat to bring “hell” to Boston is counterproductive.

“You should come here with support and resources, to help us address any public-safety issues we’re experiencing,” she said. “It sounds like I might need to explain a few things to him as somebody who investigated and prosecuted crimes.”

Homan’s remarks appear to reference a television interview in which Cox discussed a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that prohibits state and local law enforcement officers from detaining people solely on the basis of a civil immigration detainer.

Garcia-Navarro asked Healey about how her administration has handled an influx of migrants, citing a poll from University of Masschusetts-Amherst/WCVB in which a majority of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with her performance.

Healey said she pushed to reshape the state’s emergency shelter system, the only statewide program in the nation that mandates shelter for homeless families. The effort is expected to cost taxpayers more than $1 billion this fiscal year.

On Friday, Healey signed a bill that reduces the amount of time families can stay in the system and caps the number of families allowed in

The federal government must reform the nation’s immigration system, Healey said, and she described telling former president Joe Biden to “be more active on the border.”

“I knew that as an attorney general, and as a former prosecutor, that there were things that could have been done, and I wish that he had done that,” Healey said.

Healey was the first Democratic governor to publicly urge Biden to reconsider running for re-election after his poor debate performance last June.

She said she empathizes with Democratic voters who blame the party for allowing Trump to recapture the White House, but rejects placing all the responsibility on Biden and his vice president, Kamala Harris, who was defeated in November.

Ultimately, the economy “ended up doing Biden and Kamala Harris in,” she told the Times.

“There are things that could have happened that should have happened that didn’t happen, and here we are,” Healey said. “It’s upsetting to be here having this conversation with you at this moment. And I, too, ask, how the hell did we get here?”

Healey criticized Trump for executive orders aimed at dismantling initiatives for diversity, equity, and inclusion, saying the policies shouldn’t be abandoned. She also expressed concern about the authority Trump has given billionaire Elon Musk to reshape the federal government.

“It’s interesting at a time when the co-president, Elon Musk, is giving us Hitler salutes, and espousing anti-Semitic things, I just find it ironic that we’re going to have this debate over D.E.I. and whether it’s effective,” she told the Times.

Healey, the first woman and openly-gay governor in Massachusetts, said she worries about potential challenges to the Supreme Court case that made gay marriage legal nationwide. As a civil rights lawyer with the state attorney general’s office, Healey successfully challenged the Defense of Marriage Act.

She also told the Times she worries that Trump might seek a third presidential term.

“You asked me that question, and my legit, genuine answer is, yeah, I’m worried about that,” Healey said.

Laura Crimaldi can be reached at laura.crimaldi@globe.com. Follow her @lauracrimaldi.