Trump claims Whitmer 'wants to be a dictator,' says Michigan, other states should 'open up'
Comments come a week after the FBI arrested and charged six militia members with attempting to kidnap Whitmer
President Trump on Thursday said Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer "wants to be a dictator," and that Michigan and other states should "open up" despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Whitmer extended Michigan's lockdown emergency on Sept. 29 through Oct. 27.
"They ought to open up the states," Trump said during an interview on FOX Business' "Varney & Co." "That's the other thing with the Democrats -- maybe more important -- open up the states. We're winning a lot of lawsuits about that. Michigan, she has to [it] open up. She wants to be a dictator in Michigan."
Trump added that "people can’t stand her" and "want to get back and want to get back to work," which is aiding his reelection campaign in the state.
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"Michigan, we won. Pennsylvania, we won. ... North Carolina's moving along. They've got to open them up. They will open them up on Nov. 4," Trump said. "They're only doing it for politics. But the schools have to open. The businesses have to open. Despite that, we'll have a great third quarter."
FILE - In this June 17, 2020, pool file photo provided by the Michigan Office of the Governor, Michigan Gov. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, Pool, File)
The president's comments come a week after the FBI arrested and charged six militia members with attempting to kidnap Whitmer on Oct. 8.
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The governor hosted a press conference on Oct. 8 after the FBI released details of the militia plot and suggested that Trump's rhetoric has been stirring radical behavior like that demonstrated by the men who planned to kidnap her, bringing up the president's Sept. 29 comment that the far-right Proud Boys group should "stand back and stand by."
“Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn White supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups," Whitmer said. "'Stand back and stand by,' he told them. ... Hate groups heard the president’s words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action."
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She added that when "leaders meet with, encourage and fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimize their actions and they are complicit."
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