Michigan governor: If you break the law, ‘we will find you’
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer thanked law enforcement for their work foiling an alleged plot to kidnap her and said she “never could imagine anything like this.”
“When I put my hand on the Bible and took the oath of office 22 months ago, I knew this job would be hard. I’ll be honest, I never could imagine anything like this. I want to start by saying thank you to our law enforcement. Thank you to the fearless FBI agents. And thank you to the brave Michigan state police troopers who participated in this operation,” Whitmer said at a news conference this afternoon.
Whitmer also criticized President Trump who “spent the past seven months denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking distrust, fomenting anger and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.”
She specifically referenced Trump’s comment during the first presidential debate where he told the far-right group, the Proud Boys, to “stand back and stand by” instead of denouncing them outright.
“Just last week the President of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn White supremacists and hate groups … ‘Stand back and stand by,’ he told them. ‘Stand back and stand by.’ Hate groups heard the President’s words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight. When our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimatize their actions and they are complicit,” Whitmer added.
Watch the moment:
