Trump calls Gretchen Whitmer ungrateful for being saved from militia kidnap plot Six men allegedly conspired to abduct governor and 'try’ her for treason over lockdown orders https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...litia-michigan-governor-fox-news-b905560.html Donald Trump has claimed in a Fox News interview that Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer is ungrateful for being saved from a kidnap plot — even as her state’s attorney general warned there are still “dangerous” people making similar plans. According to the FBI, 13 men have been arrested on various charges over a number of violent plans they were allegedly making; six stand accused of plotting to kidnap Ms Whitmer and try her for “treason” over her tough lockdown measures imposed to combat the coronavirus. The bureau claims that they discussed in detail how to abduct the governor, reaching out to local militia groups and at one point focusing on her personal vacation home and summer residence. Mr Trump, however, responded to the news by taking a dig at Ms Whitmer during an on-air phone interview with host and longtime ally Sean Hannity on Thursday night As he has on previous occasions, he reiterated offhandedly that he did condemn right-wing extremists, but then flipped the discussion back to discussing left-wing extremist groups like “Antifa” (which is not in fact a coherent, organised group) and associating them with Democrat Joe Biden. Then, just hours after the plot against Ms Whitmer came to light, Mr Trump pivoted to attacking the governor himself. “And you know I see Whitmer today, she was complaining, but it was our Justice Department that arrested the people that she was complaining about, it was my Justice Department that arrested them," he said. “But instead she goes and does her little political act, and she keeps her state closed — although we just won the big case, as you know, to open up Michigan. Because what she’s doing is a horrible thing to the people. The churches are closed, the schools are closed, and the whole state is closed, and people are being hurt very badly by it in the form of drinking and suicides and depression. It’s a very sad thing.” Speaking on MSNBC about the implications of the plot, Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel told host Katy Tur that she was “worried about additional threats”. “This may very well be the tip of the iceberg. I don’t feel as if our work or the work of the federal authorities is complete, and I think there are still dangerous individuals that are out there and a point of great concern. “And I think that’s why it is so important that our elected leaders tone down the rhetoric and make it clear once and for all, and to be unequivocal about the fact that they do not condone and that they actually condemn these these individuals and this type of conduct and these types of organisations.” The plot comes after a year in which Ms Whitmer and Mr Trump clashed publicly over her state’s tough coronavirus lockdown measures and requests for help obtaining protective equipment, with the president famously disdaining her as “that woman from Michigan”. Mr Trump complained loudly in the spring about Ms Whitmer’s tough approach to locking down her state, at one point tweeting the words “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” Less than a fortnight after that tweet, a large crowd of anti-lockdown protesters — some heavily armed — entered the Michigan state capitol in Lansing to protest against government “tyranny”. There are now reports that at least two of the men arrested in the FBI investigation attended one such protest. The governor earlier this year flagged the “explosion” of threats against her; when this latest plot came to light, she laid into Mr Trump for “giving comfort to those that spread fear and hatred and division”, including at the first presidential debate with Joe Biden. “Just last week the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups,” she said. "Hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry, a call to action." In her MSNBC interview, however, Ms Nessel made clear that she did not view the investigation as a matter of politics — though she called the president an exception. “I think it’s important for people to know this is not political. I just was on a stage with Trump appointees who worked hand-in-hand with my office — I’m a Democrat. This has nothing to do with our politics, this has nothing to do with our political persuasion. “When you talk about law and order, what you saw on that stage, what you see us doing today in terms of these charges, that is what is law and order, not what the president has been talking about.”
The full quote with context: "You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. ... I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name. ... So you know what, it's fine. You're changing history. You're changing culture. And you had people — and I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the White nationalists, because they should be condemned totally — but you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and White nationalists. Okay? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. Now, in the other group also, you had some fine people. But you also had troublemakers, and you see them come with the black outfits and with the helmets and with the baseball bats. You had a lot of bad people in the other group."
Liberate Michigan was all he said. So you can have your opinions on what he meant (and you do) and I can have mine (and I do). My opinion is he was saying that Michigan was under an unjust and unfair lockdown and the Governor overreached her authority. You believe this is Trump's call for the assassination of the governor? I mean, honestly? Even if that lunacy were true, this isn't racism. "Stand back, stand by". I have given my position here. You and I spoke about this. I have not changed my opinion on it. In this link/post, is a clip from 2016 where he was asked the same question by the exact same moderator and he unequivocally denounced White Supremacy. The difference here was that both the moderator and Biden were throwing comments at Trump and he was reacting to both at the same time, and you got this gaffe (which is all it is). The fact that you are so eager to take the "fine people" comment so wildly out of context gives me an understanding of how eager and open you are to looking at these other two quotes in any balanced light.
Didn't know Antifa had a flag. Hopefully it doesn't have any stars in it. Regardless, Tim McVeigh was inspire by other organizations, conspiracy theorists and ideologies hiding behind the protection of Democracy. Hopefully, this group has not been inspiring others to do much worst...new breed of domestic terrorists that attack schools, governments and attack law enforcement. The good thing is that they were caught before they could do other stuff such as leave their state and go to protest events in another state while being well armed which they then kill people via the façade of protecting someone's property...property not there's...essentially a militia that becomes hired thugs. These thugs are no different than the thug that shot the two police officers in California...same type of cowards / scum. The problem is that one thinks its better than the other. wrbtrader
No. But words have consequences, and Trump does not choose his carefully. He also has an idiot base. All his "gaffes" are unidirectional, suggesting something other than random outcomes. A president calling Harris a monster? Was that a "gaffe?" Imitating a disabled reporter? Another misunderstood act? Tsing, you are sounding like a not-so-shy Trump supporter.
Words have consequences. Trump certainly does not choose his words carefully. I would add that this is one of his biggest weaknesses as a politician and a human being. I also agree that is base is fervent. As for their overall IQ, I'm not sure they qualify as "idiotic". Plenty of gaffes on the other side could be said in the other direction. If I choose them selectively as you are choosing yours. If me defending Trump (or anyone) for things they did not do or say means I support them instead of me being more interested in fairness means I am a "not-so-shy Trump supporter" in your eyes, then so be it. But I would equally defend someone on the left (and have) for things they did not do but are being accused of.
Trump continues to attack Whitmer on social media this very day! The woman who was the target of a kidnap/murder conspiracy. He verbally attacked her for the same reasons her would-be assassins targeted her. And you continue to defend him. Not so shy.