← The Interview
The Interview
Governor Maura Healey Wants Democrats to Put Up a Fight
00:44:19
The Massachusetts leader, whose influence goes well beyond her state, discusses how the Democratic Party can pick its battles and rebuild its brand.
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- [00:00]
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- [00:41]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
From the New York Times, this is the interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. Last weekend, governors from both parties converged in Washington for their annual gathering. As is traditional, they met with the president as a group. As is not so traditional, President Trump took the opportunity to scold Maine's Democratic governor, Janet Mills, over her opposition to his executive order banning transgender women from women's sports.
- [01:08]
Donald Trump
Are you not going to comply with it?
- [01:11]
Maura Healey
I'm complying with state and federal laws.
- [01:13]
Donald Trump
Well, I'm. We are the federal law. Well, you better do it. You better do it because, you know.
- [01:18]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
It was a pretty stunning exchange.
- [01:20]
Donald Trump
You better comply because otherwise you're not getting any, any federal funding. Every state. Good. I'll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one.
- [01:31]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
That interaction is one example increasingly antagonistic relationship between the president and Democratic governors. This time around, Trump is adopting a more punitive posture towards those he perceives as defying him. And liberal governors now have to decide how to respond. Among them, Maura Healy of Massachusetts. Healy is a former civil rights lawyer who in 2014 became the nation's first openly gay state attorney general. In 2022, she won the governorship. And while she may not have the same national profile as some of her colleagues, like J.B. pritzker of Illinois or Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, she's known as being deeply influential in the party behind closed doors. So as part of a series of conversations I'm having with Democrats, I wanted to talk to Healy about how she views her role as the governor of a blue state in this second Trump term and how she thinks her party can wage an effective fight. Here's my conversation with Massachus Governor Maura Healey. Governor Healy, you just returned from D.C. for the annual National Governors association meeting, and you attended an event with the president along with other governors. What did you discuss with the other governors, both Democratic and Republican, while you were there?
- [03:03]
Maura Healey
Well, you go to the White House. I've been as governor with other presidents. I've been as attorney general. And you go with the expectation that you're going to hear the president articulate some vision for the future. It's supposed to be an opportunity to talk about how governors and states can work with a new administration. That wasn't what this was about. The meeting began with an address by Stephen Miller for about 15, 20 minutes. And then later, the president came out and began by recounting that he's got the highest approval rating of anybody this early in his tenure, that he won the election not once, not twice, but three times, and then continued with a litany of conspiracy theories and false information. So it was unfortunate because I'm there as governor thinking, let's have a conversation about maybe where we can work together. Right. How can we focus on the needs of everyday Americans? But unfortunately, we didn't see any of that. What was also upsetting is that we saw him attack another governor. This is something that the governor of Maine. The governor of Maine. Now, this follows. Remember a few weeks ago, he attacked Illinois and Governor Pritzker, he attacked Governor Hochul in New York. Recently. He's now very gratuitously, in a way, seemed very manufactured in the moment, attacked the governor of Maine. I should say.
- [04:28]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
This was about transgender rights and about his executive order to do with transgender rights. And then he called her out. Right. And then she responded basically that she would follow the laws of her state.
- [04:39]
Maura Healey
And the federal government.
- [04:40]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
And the federal government, and that she would see him in court. And that didn't seem to go down well.
- [04:44]
Maura Healey
No. And it was about transgender rights, but it wasn't about transgender rights. He is doing what he has done, typically, which is I am going to throw out some issue. Let that be the distraction. Let that distract everyone from the fact that my poll numbers are tanking. People don't like what Elon Musk and Doge are doing. And let's get everybody's eye off the ball. So let me go pick on this particular governor about an action that she hasn't even taken. She has not even taken an action around transgender issues, and yet he manufactures something, and she appropriately says, I'm going to follow state and federal law, Mr. President, which I think is the right answer of you want your electeds to follow state and federal law. What I saw is 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. We are the federal Law.
- [05:43]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
And what did you hear when he said that?
- [05:45]
Maura Healey
I heard somebody who thinks he's king. Congress makes the laws. I may not agree with everything Congress does, but that's a democracy. That's how our system works. Congress makes the laws, the judiciary enforces the laws and determines the application of the law. And the executive, and I'm an executive, my job is to faithfully apply and execute the law. Right. And so that's a problem. He doesn't believe that Congress makes the law. He believes that he makes the law. That's what he said. The other thing he said, as you will see, no federal funding, which again, is counter to the way our system operates, which is, you know, Congress appropriates funds. Congress debates and figures out, you know, where funding's gonna go. And the idea that he's going to withhold weaponized funding is terrible.
- [06:39]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
What was the feeling afterwards among the Democratic governors in particular after that exchange?
- [06:45]
Maura Healey
You know, I feel a lot of anger. I feel anger for the people I am elected to serve. And I think a lot of us feel that. And so as governor, I am focused on delivering people here. How do I lower their costs, how do I build more homes, how do I lower taxes, how do I make sure that kids are educated, that our communities are safe, right? That our veterans are taken care of. And in the face of that, we have Donald Trump, who's teamed up with his co King co president Elon Musk. That also became quite clear. And they are doing everything, it seems to cut jobs. Look at all the layoffs. And remember, a third of the federal employee workforce are veterans. And they've been laid off, let go, fired by the tens of thousands. They're also doing everything they can to increase costs, it seems tariffs, which would be devastating, gonna raise the price of everything that we buy and rely on. So they are acting in ways that are diametrically opposed to what we're trying to do as governors, causing a lot of hurt, a lot of chaos. I'll give you an example, Lulu. Massachusetts, we're home to life sciences. There is a ton of research and innovation. We're number one in healthcare. And here within Massachusetts, we depend on funding from the National Institute of Health, as do a lot of states, so called red states and blue states. He wants to cut all of that, which means that people who right now are researching the cure for your child, if they get cancer or researching the cure, the treatment for Alzheimer's, are no longer gonna have access to that funding. That's outrageous.
- [08:37]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Governor. One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is because I am interested to know how Democratic governors are seeing this moment and how to maneuver in the second Trump era. Until now, you've been not as publicly combative as perhaps other governors have been. And I'm wondering if that's because Donald Trump is seemingly more willing to be punitive or is it because his policies have been popular. I mean, what are you weighing when you're thinking about how to talk about this administration?
- [09:12]
Maura Healey
Look, I was Attorney General throughout the Trump won presidency and joined and led many cases suing him, some not unfamiliar with the way he operates. It's incredibly important for ags to continue to be in the courts. They, like we back during Trump one, are having success. How I look at things as it's been consistent for me. If the President is going to work and support the state of Massachusetts, I will work with the president and the federal administration. When he is not, then I will be the first to stand up and fight for the people people of Massachusetts. I think that is probably the attitude of most Democratic governors, at least.
- [09:55]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
You, of course were ag. You have direct experience with this. I am curious if you really do think that how the AGs are operating, if it's the best way. Because, for example, you were accused of politicizing the AG's office by jumping into national issues. It's something that is often said about AGs, and that was in the first Trump administration. Then under Biden, you had Republican AGs adopting that model, going after things that Biden did. And now again we have these group filings from multiple states targeting executive actions. It's become this kind of pattern. And I'm curious, do you think that AG should be getting in these federal fights so consistently?
- [10:34]
Maura Healey
I think the premise of that question is totally off.
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Lulu Garcia Navarro
Tell me why.
- [10:37]
Maura Healey
And I think the notion that these are, quote, political fights is totally off. When I brought suits as an Attorney general And when other AGs I worked with brought suits, because a lot of these were multi state suits. Why were they multi state suits? Why were a bunch of AGs joining in the same lawsuit? It's because there was some action taken by Trump during Trump one that hurt people in our states. As Attorney General, you're there to represent the people of your state to protect their interests and to protect their rights. So when somebody like Donald Trump illegally cuts off access to healthcare, violates the law, of course your AG can and should sue. That's not a political issue. That's an attorney general doing his or her job, vindicating.
- [11:32]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
And you saw Republicans do The same, obviously, during the Biden administration. And they would argue that they were doing the same thing.
- [11:40]
Maura Healey
They can argue that. They can argue that. I will tell you, having worked with many Republican colleagues, I will tell you, tell you what those fights are about. They were fights to gum up the works, to slow things down. They didn't like some of the policy making that was going on. They didn't like the fact that EPA was out there promoting and promulgating new regulations, for example. And so they try to find ways to slow that down. I'm not saying, you know, in every instance it was frivolous, but there's a reason why Democratic AGs won over 85% of those cases during Trump won. We were right. And I think that's what you're gonna see again now with Trump, too. Now the courts have changed some. So how this ultimately plays out, would you say?
- [12:21]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Are you confident that the courts can actually constrain this administration?
- [12:24]
Maura Healey
Well, I have great hope in the courts. You know, they're an important institution. They're one of our pillars of government. So I wanna remain ever optimistic about the role of and the responsibility of the judiciary. I can't predict how it's going to go. But those lawsuits, where there's a violation of the law, those AGs need to continue to sue, and that's not political. It's about doing their job in vindicating people's rights in their states. But it's not just up to the ags. I think about senators like Chris Murphy and Brian Schatz, you know, out there just articulating, just in very real terms what the harm of Trump's actions are to everyday Americans. You see more and more Americans speaking up, too. And that's really, really important because I think it's been overwhelming for a lot of people. I mean, it's only been a month, right. And people have been hit with a lot.
- [13:25]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
It did seem to catch Democrats by surprise. I mean, we have seen Democrats take a beat and have trouble coming to an agreement about what kind of resistance or opposition they're going to pose. You've talked a little bit about what's happening publicly. I'm curious what has been happening privately? Because one of my colleagues reported that you were part of a group of Democratic governors in January who privately urged Senator Chuck Schumer to fight harder, or at least differently, against Trump. And I'm curious, like, what you were wanting to see that you weren't seeing.
- [13:58]
Maura Healey
I thought at the outset it was very important for leadership in Congress. Leadership in Congress. To be out every day with members talking about the things that Trump is doing. Why? Because what he's been doing from the beginning is taking away Congress's power. Like, all of his action has been him saying, basically, Congress. I know. Maybe he doesn't know Congress. You're supposed to make the law, but, no, I'm making the law now. I am usurping your authority. I am appropriating congressional authority, which is why I thought at the outset, Congress and members of Congress each day have gotta be out there explaining to the American people and everyday Americans, this isn't right. This isn't legal. They need to be speaking up to that.
- [14:44]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Do you think the leadership in Congress is the right leadership to enact what you're envisioning?
- [14:50]
Maura Healey
Look, I'll leave that for members of Congress to decide. Right? I mean, I'm a governor. That's not my call. What I can tell you is we need leadership that is aggressive, that is proactive, that is. And that is speaking to everyday Americans. I mean, I think it sounds like.
- [15:05]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
You'Re eliding the question.
- [15:06]
Maura Healey
I don't mean to elide anything. I'll say that. You know, I think part of what got the Democratic Party in trouble this last election is the fact that there was a perception that leaders within the Democratic Party were not actually seeing and feeling people's pain. I think there's a perception that, and I think it lived out to a certain extent among Democratic leadership, that they just didn't have their finger on the pulse. You know, they're talking about issues that weren't bread and butter, core economic issues that resonate. They allowed themselves in some ways to be caricatured as only caring about X, Y and Z issue, which isn't true, by the way.
- [15:51]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is that I was told by quite a few Democrats that you are very influential in the party beyond your state. And so, as you have been having these conversations about moving the party forward, I did want to get your temperature on just the Democratic brand writ large, because polling is showing that the Democratic brand is really underwater, regardless of what's happening with Donald Trump and what's happening in the White House. The losses were steep in the last election. You are the governor of a solidly blue state. What was your big takeaway about why the Democrats did so badly?
- [16:35]
Maura Healey
Well, there's definitely a brand problem. There's a big brand problem. And, you know, I don't pretend to speak for the party, but I can tell you, as a Democratic leader, What I'm gonna do, I'm gonna focus on driving what I believe is a Democratic message. Let's take this moment and redefine the brand. To me, the Democratic brand should be about delivering for everyday Americans. We have the chance to do that with the foil of Donald Trump cutting all these programs, cutting our military, for God's sakes, to free up funding that'll pay for the tax cuts he wants to give to billionaires. So what can we do as Democrats? Where I think we need to go? If I was gonna offer advice, it's to every day tack towards and have your North Star be what am I doing for everyday Americans?
- [17:33]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
But I'm curious, Governor, because, I mean, I think if you talk to any Democrat, the Biden administration on down, they would say that that was their focus. I mean, they would say that that is precisely what they did during the last four years. They really tried to build up the economy out of a massive recession. They tried to tackle inflation, et cetera, et cetera. I am curious how you see that being different than what happened before.
- [18:02]
Maura Healey
I think there are differences. I told President Biden directly a few years ago that he needed to be active on the border, that he should take executive action on the border. Okay. I knew that as an attorney general and as a former prosecutor, there were things that could have been done, and I wish that he had done that. So I also think it's important to fight back. You know, when there was all this talk and denigration of dei, I don't know why the response wasn't, you know what? It's actually good to have women and people of color in the military. It's good to have women and people of color in the workforce. It's good to have women and people of color going to colleges and universities like, what's wrong with that? And put it back on them, instead of it being allowed to be this attenuated, caricatured conversation about, quote, dei. And some of it's about how you match the mischaracterization and how you match really offensive but effective attempts to strike down certain things or to pit people against each other. That's the thing. If you're getting bullied and you don't respond with force, the bully's gonna win always. And we need people who are able to do that and to do that effectively and in a way that shows that we're actually aligned with the majority of Americans on this. And you know that. I think that's a work in progress.
- [19:39]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Do you blame part of the failure to defend the Democratic brand, to articulate the vision on the Biden administration. Because you were the first Democratic governor to publicly urge President Biden to exit the race in July of last year. I mean, how much do you think it hurt the party in voters eyes that it seemed like Democrats were sort of hiding President Biden's failing acuity?
- [20:04]
Maura Healey
I mean, I think that President Biden, the Biden administration did so much for this country and pulled us through a pandemic, pulled us out of a really dark economic time, got us on really solid footing, did some incredible things. I think the party was hampered by having President Biden as the communicator in chief, if I'm being honest. Okay. He wasn't the strongest communicator in chief. And that hurt us because they weren't able to sell all of the important accomplishments that were actually, in fact happening effectively or as effectively. And that definitely hurt.
- [20:44]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Do you think the party is adequately reckoning now with the effects of what happened, though? Because I just saw one of Biden's senior advisers, Mike Donilon, say that the Democratic Party, quote, lost its mind after Biden's poor debate and basically threw an incumbent under the bus and that cost them the election?
- [21:06]
Maura Healey
I don't, I hadn't seen that comment. Are we grappling with what happened and having to deal with it right now? You better believe it. We've got Donald Trump in the White House. But I've talked before about this and my views about President Biden. And I think it was very hard for Kamala Harris, who I thought ran a fantastic campaign, to be able to overcome the disadvantage at the time and within the time that she was allotted. And I think it would have been a different story if the president had decided a few years ago that he was going to do what he said he would do, which is to serve one term and then we'd have the opportunity for, you know, full engagement at a primary and the like. That didn't happen. I have no interest in further spending time on it. Revisiting history. I'm focused on the now.
- [22:01]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
After the break, I asked Governor Healy about the migrant crisis that has played out during her time in office. And we talk more about the Trump administration's campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion.
- [22:13]
Maura Healey
It's interesting at a time when the co president, Elon Musk, is giving us Hitler salutes. Right. And espousing anti Semitic things. And I just find it ironic that it's like we're going to have this debate over DEI and whether it's like effective all the while this is going on over here. I mean like seriously.
- [22:41]
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- [24:06]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Governor Healy, the number two issue in your state, according to polling, is immigration, which is something that has plagued Democrats in the last election. 2023 was the year where states like yours saw a big surge. That's also when you became governor. Can you tell me how you've seen this particular issue play out?
- [24:30]
Maura Healey
Yeah, you're right about the timing of it. I think that in the year before I took office, we'd seen the first influx of migrants into certain states. We're home to a significant Haitian diaspora here in Massachusetts, and so there were a number of Haitians coming into Massachusetts. This was something that I inherited. It was underway when I became governor, and it only grew during the first year or so of my administration. It goes back to something fundamental. We have not had comprehensive immigration reform in this country. We need it. I was so upset when Donald Trump killed that border bill, which would have provided a pathway for our dreamers, would have provided a pathway for people who are living here, working here, raising kids here, paying taxes here to become citizens. It also would have provided the kinds of resources for more border agents, more immigration judges, more resources at intercepting fentanyl and other drugs from coming into the country. It's been a challenging situation, to say the least, and My frustration has been, as a state governor, I am inheriting the problems caused by federal inaction and federal inaction specifically on the border and on immigration.
- [25:56]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
One of the most visible strategies Republican governors adopted during the height of the migrant crisis was sending buses and planes of migrants to blue states like yours, very memorably Martha's Vineyard. It was a stunt, but you could argue that it worked. It made immigration enforcement into a blue state issue, which it had not been. Shouldn't it always have been, though? I mean, is it not fair to say that Democrats really did not take this issue seriously?
- [26:27]
Maura Healey
I don't know. I mean, I don't see it that way. I think Democrats in Congress were the ones who, time after time, were pushing for immigration reform. That's what I saw. It was a stunt. It was a stunt. What happened? I think it, you know, the buses, the buses to New York, to Illinois, to Colorado. I think the Republicans did a really effective job of making this an issue and frankly, of scaring a lot of people. Massachusetts, we're ranked the safest state in the country. Okay. It doesn't mean that we don't have ongoing law enforcement work. We do. And that's the reason why it is so safe. We just had a takedown of a gang here a week or two ago, including a gang that has recently been cited by the new ICE director. So it's also the case like here with the migrants who came in. And by the way, they were fleeing the worst conditions imaginable. Right. I saw them, I met with many of them. We got them work authorizations. They're working, they're paying taxes. These are all people with lawful status now. Their kids are going to school. They're contributing to our economy. They're working in our hospitals and nursing homes. That's what I chose to do. Ron DeSantis chose to put people on a plane and use them. Greg Abbott chose to put people on buses and use them to make a point. I'll tell you the difference of being a Democratic governor. We actually found a way to take care of these people, get them jobs, get them working, and get them contributing to our economies.
- [27:58]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
And yet a poll just came out from UMass and WCBV showing that immigration is very important to people here. And a majority of voters don't approve of the way that you've handled it. Why do you think that is? There's been a lack of trust.
- [28:15]
Maura Healey
Generally, there's a lack of trust and, you know, it's hard to overcome the fear mongering that's gone on the number of people in what are our emergency shelter system here in Massachusetts. Now, see to zoom out. We're the only state in the country that has what's called a right to shelter law that houses women and children and families who are experiencing homelessness. And as a result, the law has required us to take in numbers, including migrants who've arrived here as homeless. I recently made proposals to the legislature to change that, but it's been a challenging situation. I'll say, though, that even within that system, the majority of folks in that system are actually Massachusetts families. They're not new immigrant families. Okay. But it's about what the public perception is, and all I can do is try to manage my way through it.
- [29:11]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
I mean, you've said before that the right to shelter law wasn't actually made to help waves and waves of people sort of settle here, and you are now seeking to change it. I am curious, why did you come to that decision? Because I think what you're trying to do, among other things, is require anyone seeking shelter to prove that they're in the country legally. Is that one of the changes that you're trying to make to the law?
- [29:35]
Maura Healey
I mean, I think that what we're focused on is really about your. Have you been living in Massachusetts, or did you just get evicted from your apartment in Pennsylvania and you got on a bus and drove up here? Our law is meant to actually take a families who, for one reason or another in Massachusetts became homeless, not to be a refuge for people from states who sadly and with compassion, I say this, became homeless and then come to Massachusetts to get housing. That's not the point of the law.
- [30:09]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
As you know, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, singled Boston out at CPAC last week. He called out Boston's police commissioner, who said because of state law, he won't be enforcing immigration orders against migrants. Homan then said, and I'm quoting here, I'm coming to Boston and bringing hell with me. And I'm wondering what your response to that is.
- [30:33]
Maura Healey
First of all, I don't really even know what he's talking about, to be honest. Again, I'm somebody whose state police regularly work with Homeland Security, atf, FBI, dea on the investigation and prosecution of folks, including folks who are undocumented, who are committing crimes, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, human trafficking. That was the way before Trump. It will be the way after Trump. So I don't really know what he's referring to in terms of or why he singled out Boston again. Boston.
- [31:07]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
I think your police commissioner Said basically that they weren't going to help ICE remove people with orders of removal, as happens in many sanctuary cities.
- [31:19]
Maura Healey
We're not Boston's. That's the thing. I think there's a lot of talk and semantics out there in the sky. Holman is just, you know, as a lot in the Trump administration do, just making up a bunch of stuff and trying to start something, trying to pick a fight. Okay, so look, that's not productive. Okay? Because as a former law enforcement official, if you care about law enforcement, the best way to secure the safety and wellbeing of community states our nation is for local, state and federal law enforcement to work together. So it seems to me you shouldn't be threatening to bring. What was it? Hell, yeah. Hell, yeah. Okay, whatever. No, you should come here with support and resources. Right. To help us address any public safety issues we're experiencing. You should do that with other states. And I can tell you that Massachusetts law enforcement, state and local, continue to work with federal law enforcement when it comes to the investigation and the prosecution and the apprehension of criminals. The real thing that's going on at ICE is that the numbers have gone down at the border. The number. The crossings at the border were going down during the end of the Biden administration, in fact. And so I think they're scrambling to figure out how they can keep this going. Wasn't there reports just today of the number of National Guard people on the border sitting around doing nothing? I mean, let's put people to work. We've got governors who are dealing with severe floods, severe fires. There's plenty of places that we need federal resources and help. As states. As states.
- [32:56]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Would you meet Tom Homan if he came?
- [32:58]
Maura Healey
Of course I would. Yeah. It sounds like I might need to explain a few things to him as somebody who investigated and prosecuted crimes, including with federal authorities, for a number of years here. Maybe he doesn't have the benefit of that knowledge.
- [33:12]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Another place where the federal and state governments are linked is on education. President Trump has made rolling back dei, which is diversity, equity and inclusion, central to his political project. He has said now that he's gonna be cutting federal funding for schools that include it. We don't know exactly what that means. It's sort of open to interpretation. You've said that Massachusetts schools are going to stay true to themselves. What do you mean by that?
- [33:40]
Maura Healey
We're gonna keep doing what we're doing. Look, I am the first woman in Massachusetts history to be elected governor. I happened to be the first gay person elected governor. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have support and legal protections against discrimination my entire life. I was born in 1971, so just around the time of Title IX. And I had a career as an athlete and a professional athlete, basketball player before I went to law school. I think about all that was made possible for me as a woman because there were state and federal laws in place that said, you know what, we should treat everybody fairly. Doesn't matter your gender, you know, doesn't matter the color of your skin, your religion. I think that's a American principle. I'm not giving up on that, even.
- [34:40]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
If it means pulling federal funding.
- [34:44]
Maura Healey
I just think enough people need to continue to speak out and speak to why that's such a bad thing. Talk to any CEO, major Fortune 500 company, they'll tell you that their bottom line dollar wise, does better when there's more diversity in the room. But many of these, that's not a bad thing. It's a good thing.
- [35:07]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
It's made us stronger companies who are ditching their DEI programs.
- [35:11]
Maura Healey
I don't know why. I don't know why. I mean, I think, I know why. I think that they feel the threat of Elon Musk, they feel the threat of Donald Trump, which is sort of one and the same, but I think that that's what they're responding to. It's not right. It's not a winner for this country. It's not gonna help us be more competitive around the world by removing or doing things that hinder talent in this country and the success of individuals.
- [35:48]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Why do you think we're seeing such a backlash to DEI though? You know, people have expressed that they do feel that sort of mandated diversity, equity and inclusion. They feel that it hasn't been beneficial to relations between races and ethnicities and that, you know, there is a feeling specifically on the right that this has become a sort of left wing orthodoxy.
- [36:16]
Maura Healey
You know, it's interesting at a time when the co president, you know, Elon Musk, is giving us Hitler salutes, right, and espousing anti Semitic things. And I just, I just find it ironic that it's like we're gonna have this debate over DEI and whether it's like effective all the while this is going on over here. I mean, like, seriously. So we can talk about DEI and whether there are some approaches or aspects that people wanna look at more, maybe need reform, or there should be more flexibility in certain things. But do not tell me that we are going to condone and go down a path in government or in corporate America that says women and people of color are no longer at the table. And not only no longer at the table, but will not be supported anywhere along the way. I think, unfortunately, what's happened in the moment, we've seen a lot of capitulation. We've seen a lot of people trying to hedge their bets. You mean to tell me that's good for America? Come on.
- [37:19]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
You were, as you mentioned, the country's first openly gay Attorney General. Prior to that, you worked in the Civil Rights division of the AG's office, where you led the first successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act.
- [37:30]
Maura Healey
I sued President Obama.
- [37:32]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
You did. There is some concern among Democrats that after Roe v. Wade, we are going to see Obergefell, the Supreme Court's decision that made gay marriage legal at the federal level, overturned next. Do you worry about that?
- [37:50]
Maura Healey
I do. I mean, how can you not? The Supreme Court constituted as it is. I mean, how can you not. It seems like anything is. Is possible, is conceivable now. You know, it is again, up to everyone to be able to speak out and articulate why it is so important to hold onto precedent. I thought we'd done that with Roe. Right. And look what happened there.
- [38:15]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
And there was a huge amount of fury after Roe fell, but that dissipated. A lot of Democrats thought in this election that Roe was going to be something that was gonna galvanize people, and it didn't. Enough. And so I guess when you look at. At marriage equality, does it seem more imminent to you that perhaps people won't stand up for the things that seem to have been settled?
- [38:40]
Maura Healey
I guess I'd unpack that a little bit. I think if you look at Roe in the aftermath of Roe. Right. What did I do right away as governor? Stockpile. Mifepristone. Right. We passed a shield law here to protect patients and providers. Other governors took similar actions. We saw races in states over Roe, over the abortion issue, where abortion rights won time after time after time, where it didn't carry the day or carry the entirety of an election determinative of an election. The only one was the presidential. And I just think that abortion rights wasn't enough to overcome the perception of weak leadership by the Biden administration on immigration, on the economy, and a poor job communicating what had actually been delivered for American people. And also it was in the context of increasing inflation and high costs and perception that the Democratic candidate wasn't empathizing enough and feeling the pain and delivering up a solution, saying X, Y and Z. I'm gonna deliver for you. Now, meanwhile, Donald Trump said all these things that he was gonna do to lower costs and prices, and of course, hasn't done a goddamn thing, nor is he going to. But I don't blame. Like, I don't think there was a dissipation in the effect, the after effect of Roe. I think it's there, it's strong. I think it did contribute to more people coming out, even in the presidential. And I think the results in other races have shown what's consistent with the polling, which is the vast majority of Americans, Democrat and Republican, support abortion rights. As to marriage equality, we'll see. You know, it's something that I think has been, at least in Massachusetts. I mean, we've had marriage equality for 20 years now. Many states have had it for some time as well. And the idea that a court overnight would take away that right, take away. Remember, these are state marriage licenses. These aren't federal marriage licenses, which is why I won the case to begin with, the DOMA case. You know, it shouldn't happen as a matter of law, but imagine the destruction to families. Right. So I hope that doesn't happen.
- [41:03]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Were you surprised to see the level of importance that trans rights had in this election? And do you think Democrats misread the electorate on the issue? As Seth Moulton, the representative from your own state, said?
- [41:15]
Maura Healey
You know, to me, it's just so sad that we are talking about such an infinitesimal portion of the population, but Trump and the Republicans intentionally made that into a mountain. Right. We're talking about such a small sliver of the population. And by the way, on athletics, it's even smaller as a percentage. But they did an incredibly effective job of making that an issue. That and immigration, I think were.
- [41:51]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
And what I keep on hearing you say is that they've managed to.
- [41:54]
Maura Healey
I think. Well, I think the other thing was the economy get the upper hand. At the end of the day, I think it's the economy that ended up doing Biden and Kamala Harris in last question.
- [42:08]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Barring change to the Constitution, President Trump can't be reelected.
- [42:12]
Maura Healey
But that's a real thing there, right? Aren't people talking about it? He's got a group talking about a third term.
- [42:17]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Are you worried about that?
- [42:22]
Maura Healey
I am worried about that.
- [42:24]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
You have to think about it.
- [42:26]
Maura Healey
Yeah. I mean, I have a pretty sober view of the situation. I mean, we live through Trump 1, we're onto Trump 2. I was talking to a historian the other day who I called on President's Day to ask for some guidance to help me provide a context for this moment that we're in. And she said to me, I can't. We've never seen anything like this before in American history. So you asked me that question, and my legit, genuine answer is, yeah, I'm worried about that. I'm worried about what they're doing in terms of looking to undermine future elections. Look at what Trump is proposing with the Postal Service and wanting to take it over, wanting to privatize it. Right. The other day in the governor's meeting, he told us all we should be working by paper ballot. And there's a reason they are doing that.
- [43:21]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
When I speak to Democratic voters, there is an enormous amount of anger towards the Democratic Party that allowed this to happen. They look at this and they say it was the failure of the Democratic Party that opened the door to Donald Trump coming in. And I just wonder, as a sitting governor and a Democrat, how you respond to that.
- [43:46]
Maura Healey
I agree. I empathize with that position. Now, is it all attributable to one president and his team and his administration in the form of Joe Biden? No, I'm not suggesting that. Okay. But there are things that happened, that could have happened, that should have happened, that didn't happen. And here we are. So I do this job. I became governor because I care about people. I want to serve people. I want to see the people of Massachusetts served, my colleagues I work with and have the privilege of working with. The Democratic governors believe in America, believe in the needs, the wants of everyday Americans. So it's upsetting to be here, having this conversation with you in this moment. And I too, ask, how the hell did we get here?
- [44:40]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
Governor Healey, thank you very much.
- [44:42]
Maura Healey
It's great to be with you.
- [44:47]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
That's Governor Maura Healey. This conversation was produced by Seth Kelly. It was edited by Annabelle Bacon, mixing by Sophia Landman. Original music by Rowan Nimisto, Sophia Landman and Marian Lozano. Photography by Philip Montgomery. Our senior booker is Priya Matthew and Wyatt Orme is our producer. Our executive producer is Alison Benedict. Special thanks to Reid Epstein, Rory Walsh, Renan Borelli, Jeffrey Miranda, Matty Masiello, Jake Silverstein, Paula Schuman and Sam Dolnick. If you like what you're hearing, follow or subscribe to the Interview. Wherever you get your podcasts. To read or listen to any of our conversations, you can always go to nytimes.com theinterview and you can email us anytime@the interviewytimes.com Next week, David talks to Lady Gaga about her new album Mayhem, and what she's Learned after almost 20 years in the music business. Some of it is what you can.
- [45:47]
Maura Healey
Like how much you can stand. It's like how much you are willing to give away of yourself.
- [45:54]
Lulu Garcia Navarro
I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is the interview from the New York Times.
- [46:04]
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