'Incredibly disturbing': Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says Trump incites domestic terrorism

LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer accused President Donald Trump of inciting domestic terrorism during a national TV appearance Sunday.

"It's incredibly disturbing that the president of the United States, 10 days after a plot to kidnap, put me on trial and execute me … is at it again … inciting this kind of domestic terrorism," Whitmer said on NBC's "Meet the Press" after a Trump campaign appearance in Michigan on Saturday.

"It is dangerous, not just for me and my family but for public servants everywhere," Whitmer said, calling on opinion leaders to "call this out" and demand Trump tamp down his remarks.

A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Saturday night, Trump held a campaign rally at an airport near Muskegon, where he repeated criticism of Whitmer over measures she has taken to address the coronavirus pandemic, prompting crowd chants of "Lock her Up." His summary of the alleged plot against Whitmer: "I guess they say she was threatened."

Trump has said Whitmer should appreciate that federal officials uncovered and foiled the plot. In response to the chant from the crowd, he laughed and said, "Lock them all up."

The campaign of Trump's Democratic rival Joe Biden slammed the episode.

"His conduct reflects his own insecurity and envy of Gov. Whitmer’s respected record of leadership in a time of crisis," spokesman Andrew Bates said. "It also serves as a reminder that our nation is at a crossroads."

Federal and state officials charged 14 men in connection with alleged domestic terror plots that included a plan to kidnap Whitmer from her family's vacation home in northern Michigan. Defendants in the case conducted surveillance of the home on two occasions and discussed abducting her by boat and taking her to Wisconsin to "stand trial" for treason, according to documents in the case.

More: Wisconsin man is 14th to face charges in alleged Whitmer kidnap plot

More: Trump downplays plot against Whitmer at Michigan rally, crowd chants, 'Lock her up'

Whitmer said Trump is "complicit" in the plot by using highly charged words to criticize her, refusing to condemn right-wing groups and encouraging such groups by tweeting comments such as "Liberate Michigan." He urged Whitmer to meet and negotiate with demonstrators who protested her coronavirus shutdown at the state Capitol in the spring.

Whitmer, a national co-chair of former Vice President Biden's campaign for president, said the progress Michigan has made against the pandemic is "at risk" because of a "partisan" 4-3 state Supreme Court decision Oct. 2 that struck down as unconstitutional the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945.

That statute was the major legal underpinning for Michigan's state of emergency and Whitmer's emergency orders related to the pandemic after courts ruled she could not extend a state of emergency beyond 28 days without approval of the Legislature, which the GOP-controlled House and Senate refused to provide.

Whitmer said the Supreme Court decision "has created a lot of confusion and has worked to undermine the work we have done here." She said she uses the Michigan Public Health code and other powers to continue a statewide mask mandate, restrict the size of indoor and outdoor gatherings and set requirements to ensure workplace safety.

Trump told thousands gathered at his rally Saturday they need to get Whitmer to end Michigan's lockdown. She lifted a stay-at-home order June 1, though some restrictions on business and other activities remain.

"We haven't had a stay-home order since late spring," Whitmer said Sunday, but Trump "never lets facts get in the way of comments he is making."

She said Trump's response to the pandemic is "the worst in the globe" because he has politicized the crisis, rather than addressing it from a science and health perspective.

"We should have acted as if we are in a war," Whitmer said. "But not a war with one another."

It was Whitmer's third appearance on "Meet the Press," the longest-running program in TV history. She appeared on the program in March and April during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: Trump incites 'domestic terrorism'