LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer didn’t hold back Thursday when talking about President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, calling him “the biggest threat to the American people.”
Whitmer has criticized the federal government throughout the last six months for what she calls lack of a comprehensive COVID-19 strategy. She was asked about recent recordings that suggest the president purposely downplayed the pandemic.
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“We learned from some revelations from Bob Woodward that the president admitted in a tape this past February that he knew that COVID-19 passes through the air,” Whitmer said. “He knew it was a lot more deadly than the flu, despite all of the representations that have been made in the last six months. He knew then, and he purposefully downplayed it, even said ‘I wanted to always play it down.’"
Whitmer said acting on the pandemic sooner could have saved thousands of lives across the country. She claims Trump’s “failure to act” has cost many people their lives and send the economy “into a tailspin.”
Whitmer went on to say the federal government hasn’t been able to make tough decisions throughout the last six months, while officials in Michigan have done so.
She said while her opinion has always been that federal officials were reckless and uninformed, she now believes they’re being deceptive.
“I think the biggest enemy of the state right now is the misinformation that’s coming out of the head of state,” Whitmer said. “The biggest threat to the American people is the American president, right now. It’s devastating, and I do not relish saying that.”
More coverage
Here’s much more recent coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whitmer’s handling of pandemic:
Reopening Michigan:
Health questions, advice:
Vaccines:
Outbreaks:
Unemployment:
Individual stories:
Changes: