Michigan's Governor has earned herself widespread praise for her state's response to the coronavirus. But the last couple of weeks have seen a loud vocal minority try to intimidate her into opening Michigan back up prematurely. Michigan has been hit harder than almost any area outside of New York City and the surrounding vicinity. Whitmer is having none of their bullshit, and rightly sees her job as doing what's best for public health.
Source: The Hill
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said protests inside the state capitol last week, featuring demonstrators with assault weapons, swastikas and Confederate flags, depicted some of the “worst racism and awful parts” of the nation’s history.
“Some of the outrageousness of what happened at our capitol depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country,” she said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“The behavior you've seen in all of the clips is not representative of who we are in Michigan,” she added.
The protesters were demonstrating against Whitmer’s statewide stay-at-home order put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic in an effort to mitigate the spread of the potentially fatal virus.
President Trump tweeted Friday in defense of the protesters and said they are “very good people.”
Yes, "very good people". Just like the Nazis in Charlotte, right?
The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 1, 2020
Speaking of Nazis, this is the type of signage those "very good people" were carrying around in Michigan while protesting Michigan's stay-at-home orders.
Most people with even an ounce of common sense have seen these stay-at-home orders as essential to keeping people safe, or at least safer than the knuckleheads carrying those type of signs and walking around out in public with their AR-15's.
Jennifer Rubin, the conservative columnist for the Washington Post wrote a column this morning praising the Democratic Governor.
Whitmer has consistently displayed her toughness, courage and level-headedness in navigating the pandemic. Her state is among the hardest hit, but she has neither panicked nor let transient public opinion push her one way or another. She has put health and safety first, relied on experts, clearly communicated her plans and rationale to the public and exhibited remarkable restraint in dealing with angry, thoughtless protesters who put others at risk. (Perhaps she should have responded even more forcefully at the statehouse, but to her credit, she avoided a dangerous escalation between police and agitators.)
For showing poise under fire, fidelity to science and organizational prowess, we can say, well done, Gov. Whitmer.
