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The Michigan governor, who was the target of a thwarted right-wing kidnapping plot, said Friday that Donald Trump’s rhetoric “incites more internal terror” after the president posted a series of aggressive tweets overnight that they sought to embarrass the victim of the plot.
Thirteen men have been indicted for a plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, whom Joe Biden considered naming as his running mate for the November election before choosing Kamala Harris.
The men, some of whom were members of a self-described right-wing militia group, talked about blowing up a bridge and putting Ms. Whitmer in a boat. Another plan involved killing Ms. Whitmer outside her home, according to authorities.
The fallout from the botched kidnapping, which was scheduled to take place before the November 3 election, has further opened the curtain on ideological polarization in American society and has become a growing political dispute.
On Friday, Biden accused Trump of “giving oxygen to the bigotry and hatred that we see at the march in our country” when Trump attacked Ms. Whitmer hours after the conspirators were named.
Trump, who has spent months criticizing Whitmer and other Democratic governors for measures to try to control the coronavirus pandemic as it raged across the United States, said Thursday that Whitmer had “done a terrible job” in Michigan and complained. that he was still doing it. to thank you that the FBI stopped the plot.
Speaking on Friday morning, Ms. Whitmer said that Ms. Trump was “creating a very dangerous situation.”
“Every time he’s tweeted about me, every time he’s said ‘liberate Michigan’ and said that I should negotiate with the same people who get arrested because they are ‘good people,’ that incites more domestic terror,” said Ms. Whitmer. ABC News.
“And I am not the only governor who is going through this. It’s certainly been worse for me than most, but it’s not unique to me, it’s not even unique to Democrats. This White House has a duty to denounce it and they will not do it; in fact, they encourage it. “
Moved around
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Ms. Whitmer and her family were sometimes taken away by authorities while police tracked down men who allegedly conspired for months to kidnap her, the state attorney general said Friday.
Dana Nessel revealed the detail to CBS This Morning. She said the Democratic governor was constantly updated on the investigation in recent months.
“She was aware of things that were happening,” Ms. Nessel said. “At times, she and her family had been transferred as a result of activities known to law enforcement agencies.”
Whitmer became a hateful figure for right-wingers during the spring, when she was among several state governors who issued stay-at-home orders in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19.
In April, thousands of protesters, many of them armed, besieged the Michigan state capital of Lansing to demonstrate against Ms. Whitmer’s order.
From the White House, Trump cheered for the mostly white protesters, tweeting: “FREE MICHIGAN!” while repeatedly attacking Ms. Whitmer.
The FBI said Thursday that the plan to kidnap Ms. Whitmer began around the time of those demonstrations, and took months to prepare.
“Snatch and grab, man,” Adam Fox, one of the conspirators, unknowingly told an FBI informant in July.
Grab the damn governor. Just grab the bitch. Because at that moment, we do that, buddy, it’s over. “
The conspirators twice patrolled Ms. Whitmer’s vacation home, including in mid-September, while they developed plans to take her hostage.
The men attempted to build explosive devices and conducted combat drills, planning to blow up a bridge to Ms. Whitmer’s home to stop the police.
Seven of those arrested are supporters of the so-called boogaloo movement, NBC News reported. Experts say the boogaloo is a violent far-right anti-government movement, and some supporters are also linked to neo-Nazi groups.
On the president’s response to the revelations, Ms. Whitmer said Friday: “A decent human being would pick up the phone and say, ‘Are you okay? How is your family?
That’s what Joe Biden did. And I think it tells you everything you need to know about the character of the two people who are competing to lead our country for the next four years. “
Biden, who leads Trump in opinion polls in several key states, including Michigan, criticized the president in the early hours of Friday morning.
“When Governor Whitmer worked to protect her state from a deadly pandemic, President Trump called for ‘FREE MICHIGAN! “Biden said in a tweet.
“That call was heard. It is giving oxygen to the fanaticism and hatred that we see in the march in our country, and we have to stop it ”.
Pro-Whitmer protesters held a rally in support of the governor outside the state capitol building in Lansing on Thursday night. – Guardian
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