Governor Janet Mills

Well, I did see him in court, and we won.

I am so pleased to say that Aaron Fry's able representation of the state of Maine has resulted in a binding agreement by the US Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins and all of her staff,

whereby they agree to refrain from freezing, terminating, or otherwise interfering with the State of Maine's access to USDA funds allocated to any official or agency or department of the State of Maine based on alleged violations of Title IX.

Thanks.

Thanks, Ben.

It's great to be on the show.

Hey, listen, that was a jaw-dropping moment for me and I think for a lot of people across the country.

And what I said, I wasn't sure anybody even heard it, but I guess they did because what was...

jaw-dropping for me was when the President of the United States said, he is the law.

I mean, my God.

Nobody says that.

And, you know, as an American citizen, that just really took me off guard and was astonishing.

The President of the United States is supposed to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.

That's what the Constitution says.

He's not supposed to be making up laws or amending laws or

or repealing laws by executive order, by tweet, by press conference, press release.

That's not his job and that's not his, he's not authorized under the Constitution to do that.

So that's what threw me back as an American citizen, as a lawyer.

You know, what could I say?

I'm following state and federal law.

And I said, I'd see you in court.

We did see him in court.

A little while later, Brooke Rollins, the Secretary of Agriculture, sent this weird letter to me saying she was going to stop, halt all federal funding for the education programs in Maine, including most particularly the school lunch program.

She's not going to feed mac and cheese and toast and beans to school children anymore in the state of Maine.

172,000 kids were going to go without school lunch.

because of her interpretation of Title IX.

Well, geez, I said, that's not right.

So we filed suit on a Friday afternoon

Briefs were due on Wednesday.

By Friday, the next Friday, the federal judge, who was a Republican appointee, issued a 70-page opinion giving us a temporary restraining order against the federal government.

He said, whatever your view of Title IX is, you can't stop funding for school lunch programs because of your interpretation of a different law over here.

And he was absolutely right.

And so they came to the table and said, OK, we'll agree.

that will keep funding the school lunch program.

I mean, it's astonishing what you have to fight for in this day and age.

This administration has been a disaster for every basic thing like food and health care and climate issues and clean energy and so much.

So that's why I thought it over in the last few months and I thought,

You know, my senator, Susan Collins, has not been standing up to him.

She has not shown the backbone that we need in the U.S.

Senate.

And people have been urging me for months now, and I've thought it over and said, I got to do this thing.

Because every day the news is worse and worse.

It's like a roller coaster ride and it's churning my stomach.

And I'm not the kind of person who can sit idly by and let stuff like that happen.

I'm a GSD person, you know, get stuff done.

And that's why I want to go to the U.S.

Senate.

Well, it took me some time to think it over.

And I kept sort of waiting for something better to happen, to see things turn around a little bit, to see the Congress get some backbone, see the Congress step up to him.

But then, I mean, Susan Collins was a pivotal vote in advancing the so-called Big Beautiful Bill just a short time ago.

And that bill is devastating to Maine people.

It takes away health care for tens and tens of thousands of people in Maine and extends the tax benefits, tax credits for billionaires, but then takes food out of the mouths of children.

How do you do that?

How do you live with that?

And then she voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is taking away our public health infrastructure, who's threatening to take away vaccines, life-saving vaccines for children.

And I'm here trying to save all of that as governor of the state of Maine, working with Maura Healey and other governors of the Northeast Coalition to preserve our public health infrastructure and to preserve access to vaccines.

And so everything that's going on in Washington is to the opposite effect.

She voted for Linda McMahon, Secretary of Education.

Linda McMahon, who's tearing apart the Department of Education and threatening public education all across this country.

Well, I'm fighting to fully fund, and I'm the first governor who has fully funded public education in Maine ever.

and increasing, improving scholastic achievement by our students.

This is Linda McMahon, who appears to think that AI is a steak sauce.

I think I saw her on TV on a panel.

She said, every child should have A1 from kindergarten on up.

That was kind of astonishing.

So there are a lot of votes I disagree with.

It's a fair point, and it's a legitimate consideration.

God knows it's a consideration for me and has been these many months I've been thinking about it, and people have been urging me to run, regardless of my age.

But you know what?

I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't do everything I can to reverse what's going on in Washington, things that are harming Maine people,

Sure, I could go, you know, I'm not a rich person by any means, but I could just retire, go to my camp and fish and read books for the rest of my life, I guess.

But boy, I couldn't live with myself if I did that.

Not when the times are so urgent, so dangerous, and things are happening that are threatening the health and welfare of Maine people every day.

I can't live with that.

And so I have the energy and the time and I wanna give it my best shot.

And that's what I'm going to do.

I'm not untested.

We've run people against Susan Collins before.

And I know there are five or six guys in the race right now in this primary.

Every one of them, I would say, I'd enjoy having a beer with them.

But they're untested.

I've lived and run and won two statewide elections in recent years.

I know this state like the back of my hand.

I love this state and I love the people of the state of Maine.

And I want to do the best I can.

And right now, this moment calls for leadership and it calls for experience.

And that's what I offer the voters.

That's what I will offer the U.S.

Senate.

We've got to change things around.

People, every day I talk to people and they're saying, my God, the price of groceries has gone up tremendously.

I go to the store and I see the price of bread and milk and things going up, price of cars and trucks and construction materials, in good part because of this rollercoaster ride that Trump has put our economy on.

The whipsawing tariffs that are really taxes, taxes on Maine and U.S.

people, consumers, and the rise of inflation.

Crazy.

Today, it's a tariff on China.

Tomorrow, it's a tariff on South Korea.

Tomorrow, it's another tariff.

It's crazy stuff.

It's irrational.

You know, my friends have said to me, you sure you want to do this?

And I say, I've got to, and yes, I will.

I've got to do it for the main people, the people of this country.

I would only serve one term.

That's a realistic expectation, and it's one I would certainly agree with.

Well, it's not me versus Graham Platner.

There is such energy out there.

I see it and I feel it every day when I walk down main streets of towns and cities across the state.

I feel this anger and this anxiety.

People come out in droves for no kings protests all over this state like they do all over the country.

There's that hunger for leadership, and I aim to address that by offering my candidacy.

we've we've run people against susan collins before and she has won she won handily the last few times and she won because we ran people who were untested okay um i don't know much of anything about graham platner i know a couple of the other guys who were running one of them is a brewer that's one reason i said i'd have a beer with them but listen um

I'm the only one in the race who's actually won an election, and that's important to have that under your belt.

I'm the only one in the race who's actually delivered progress for Maine people, expanding healthcare to 100,000 people in this state.

fully funding education, providing free school meals in all the public schools, providing free community college, two years of community college for all recent high school grads, you know, signing into law paid family medical leave, helping draft it and sign it into law.

These are huge things, and it's taken a lot of work, a lot of effort, and I have that experience.

So I'm the only one in the race who has stood up to Donald Trump.

Therefore, I think my candidacy is far different than anybody else's.

Gosh, we need to turn things around in Washington.

I have stood up to bullies all my life, as my father taught me to do.

I have stood up for women and men in Maine and across this country.

I've worked my tail off for reproductive rights for women, which have now been reversed by the Supreme Court because of the votes that Susan Collins took to confirm Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

I'm ready to stand up for women and men in this state and to continue delivering progress for the people of my state and to continue working to save democracy fundamentally, to preserve our democracy and save it from the tyranny that's growing in the White House right now.

We can't put up with this.

We've got to stand up for it and stand up against it.

And I'm ready, willing, and able to stand up to Donald Trump.

A few months ago, I stood in the White House, and when confronted by the President of the United States, I told him I'd see him in court.