(WWJ) Several Republican state lawmakers are calling for the impeachment of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her response to the coronavirus, saying she's a tyrant who has turned nursing homes into death camps.
How does the governor feel about that?
"I think it's really outrageous that they're still trying to politicize this virus and the actions that I've taken are commensurate with actions taken by other governors. The governors that have seen the virus go down," Whitmer said live on WWJ 950.
An unusually fiery Whitmer continued, saying, "You want Michigan to look like Florida that has more cases daily than the European Union total? We would drop our guard, drop all of these actions that we've taken. The fact of the matter is what we have done has worked. It has been absolutely necessary to save lives. Studies have shown that we've saved tens of thousands of lives.
"All of these political attacks on my power, all of these political attacks on the power of the executive office are incredibly dangerous, and of course I'm going to continue to do what I have done and make decisions around science and saving lives."
More than that, the governor said she's not going to back down over personal attacks.
"I'm not going to be bullied, I'm not going to be threatened and I'm not going to go into the politics as I made decisions. I'm going to do the next right thing and that's following the science. It's put us in a stronger position than a lot of other states. We've got to keep our guard up, we've got to double down on these practices that we know save lives and that's what we're going to continue to focus on."
The governor was reacting to an Impeach Whitmer campaign launched Wednesday by four members of the Michigan House of Representatives and a state senator.
"Gretchen Whitmer's historic, unprecedented destruction of our state requires historic, unprecedented impeachment proceedings," the effort's leader Brandon Hall said. "Playtime is over, the time to talk with this ruthless tyrant is over. It's time for bold leadership, and I'm elated so many legislators are standing up."
Beyond impeachment talk, Whitmer was also asked about whether auto factories will have to shutter again as cases spike again in Michigan and/or whether the state will regress back to a previous phase.
"Michigan showed that we know how to get this virus under control. Around Memorial Day we were one of two states in the nation that was on track to have coronavirus under control -- Michigan and New York -- and now we know that people have dropped their guard to a certain extent."
The governor didn't directly address whether auto factories will shutter again as they did in March, but she did say, "I'm trying to avoid us sliding backwards. I'm trying to save lives here and keep our economy going, masking up is one way of tightening up our game right now so that we can preserve that opportunity to get our kids in school and maybe even contemplate phase five."
She added: "If the numbers continue to rise the way they are, we're going to have to move backwards and I don't think any of us wants that ... We're all on the same team here, the opponent is a virus that's deadly."
As for the situation in Detroit, where protesters are trying to shut down summer school by blocking buses and filing court injunctions, Whitmer essentially said that's a local issue and not the state's fight.
"What we have done at the state level is say how we think schools can move forward safely ... Ultimately, the decision is with the superintendent and the school board, and their thoughts and their concerns need to be addressed there because that's who is making the decision."
The governor discussed the state's nursing home protocol at length, busting myths perpetrated by Republicans, she said. Hear the entire exchange above.