Day 1,367: Trump continues to foment violence against Michigan governor

Just over a week ago, 13 alleged domestic terrorists were arrested in a plot to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

The right-wingers, who fashioned themselves part of a militia, were apparently spurred in large part by shutdowns and other restrictions imposed by Whitmer in an effort to follow the science and slow the spread of coronavirus.

Donald Trump issued meek comments about the kidnapping plot, and never even denounced the criminal scheme. Instead, he whined that Whitmer wasn’t deferential enough to the FBI for foiling the plot.

For months, Trump slandered Whitmer, her leadership and inspired the type of right-wing radical violence that the plotters sought to undertake.

After the arrests, Trump’s language has remained largely unchanged. At a rally in Muskegon, Michigan, he implored the crowd to continue pressuring Whitmer.

As the crowd chanted “Lock her up!” a grinning Trump responded, “Lock ‘em all up!”

Later, Trump downplayed the alleged crime as merely “threatening” bad acts, despite the fact that the allegations against the conspirators show plotting, planning, gathering equipment and doing various surveillance.

Whitmer and her team noted this is exactly the type of dangerous language that imperiled her the first time.

Trump doesn’t care about Whitmer’s safety or anyone else’s. Anytime someone is affected by or even thinking about COVID-19, Trump knows it shines an even greater light on his own failures in dealing with the pandemic. So his goal is to get everyone to pretend the virus has magically disappeared, and pressure elected officials to do the same, even as cases are surging across the country again.

1,367 days in, 95 to go

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