Attorney General Andrea Campbell, the first Black woman to hold either that position or any statewide office in Massachusetts, held a press conference about the election Wednesday.
“Donald Trump is our president-elect," said the AG. "It is absolutely essential to recognize the will of the people and to support a peaceful transition of power. These are central and nonnegotiable tenets to being a democracy. At the same time, I am absolutely clear-eyed that President-elect Trump has told us exactly what he intends to do as president. We need to believe him, and we need to be really ready for the challenges that lie ahead. Massachusetts will continue to lead, but we are by no means alone. Across the country, attorneys general will be on the front lines of defense. We will certainly be the ones to protect our fundamental rights and freedoms, the rule of law and democracy, reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, environmental protections, and so much more.”
Campbell was asked how her office would respond to the increasingly conservative Supreme Court and its legal authority.
“The Supreme Court has been going in the wrong direction for some time, including under this current administration, and we have had to step up to protect access to reproductive health care, gender affirming care, everything, of course, with respect to our environment, our clean energy transition, you name it, and we'll continue to do that work," she answered.
The AG also responded to a question about Trump’s campaign trail talk about carrying out a mass deportation program across the United States.
“So obviously, that is something that we would work with the administration on, our law enforcement here, and, of course, other AGs across the country," said Campbell. "We will see. I just want folks to know that we are prepared for every scenario. Obviously, when he was president before, he led and started with a ban on certain populations and certain constituents. We are well aware of that, and AGs came together then to work in partnership to combat that administration. That won't change in this season. If anything, I think we are prepared, we are ready for the task at hand. And most importantly, I want folks to understand that we can't do this work without them, and that if they feel helpless in this moment in time, don't. Lean into this work with us, we will lean into this work with our constituents, we will do everything in our power to protect them.”
Governor Maura Healey, the first openly lesbian woman to serve in that role nationwide and the first openly LGBTQIA+ person to hold statewide office in Massachusetts, also spoke to reporters Wednesday alongside Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.
“Here in Massachusetts, we're going to continue to lean into the things that make our state so great," said Healey. "There's a reason why we're number one in education and innovation and access to healthcare, why we're ranked the number one state to live if you're a woman or have a baby or want to raise a family. And there's a lot of wonderful things happening in Massachusetts, there's a lot of wonderful people doing great work in government and outside of government, and we're going to be an administration that continues to partner with all of them.”
She acknowledged that the commonwealth would be buffeted by the coming changes in Washington.
“Massachusetts has really benefited from the Biden-Harris administration, the funding that we've been able to make through them, through the IRA, through the CHIPS and Science act," said the governor. "I mean, these are transformative pieces of legislation that are really benefiting our state, helping us grow our economy, helping us grow jobs. The recent award of ARPA-H, right, recognizing us as a hub of life sciences and medical innovation. And so, we want to work to make sure that that that continues.”
While he lost the state to Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump won 36.5% of the vote — improving on his 2020 performance in which he won 32.1% of the ballots cast while still losing to Joe Biden.
