Gretchen Whitmer Said the Plot Against Her Was "No Coincidence" After Trump's Attacks
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer has spoken out after becoming the target of a kidnapping plot uncovered last week.
In a piece for Elle, Whitmer wrote that she believes President Donald Trump's rhetoric gives right-wing groups the "encouragement they need to plan, organize, and ultimately execute violent acts." She discussed a tweet from the President earlier this month which read, in part, "Governor Whitmer of Michigan has done a terrible job."
Trump had gone after Whitmer following her attempts to take action against the spread of the coronavirus in her state, an attack she believes played a major role in "two domestic terrorist groups preparing to kidnap and potentially kill me."
"It is no coincidence that after months of attacks from the president, I became the target of a multi-state domestic terrorist plot," she wrote.
The governor also pointed to Trump's refusal to denounce white supremacist groups, writing, "The president’s public refusal to condemn white supremacists and hate groups, like the two domestic terrorist groups involved in the plot against me, is the encouragement they need to plan, organize, and ultimately execute violent acts like the one thwarted last week."
RELATED: Mandy Moore Calls Donald Trump "the Cruelest" After He Tweets "Don’t Be Afraid of Covid"
Last week, the F.B.I. and state authorities arrested 13 men in connection with a domestic terrorism plot directed against the Democratic governor, charging them with a variety of crimes, including conspiring to commit kidnapping and providing material support to terrorist activities.
"Stoking division is the president's sad, cynical strategy for reelection," Whitmer wrote. "He radicalizes with lies, and endangers us all."
She concluded, "No one will deter me from my service to the people of Michigan. I have a job to do. I will not be bullied, intimidated, or distracted. And I know that women across the country have my back."
