Poor President Trump whined about how unpleasant it has been to deal with a “young, woman” governor –while not naming Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer– during Sean Hannity’s program on Thursday, while he weighs the governor’s declaration of emergency.
Trump said “most governors have been fantastic.” But he criticized Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and, in Whitmer’s case, “she’s not stepping up,” he said. “I don’t know if she knows what’s going on, but all she does is sit there and blame the federal government. She doesn’t get it done and we send her a lot,” Trump said.
On Thursday, Trump stated that he loved the people of Michigan, adding that Michigan is a very important state that he is bringing “many, many” car factories to.
Whitmer tweeted a response after the Hannity interview.
On Wednesday Mike Pence said the government was working well with Whitmer, who he said was leading Michigan with “great energy.”
Meanwhile on Wednesday, state officials said that they were shorted 225,000 masks from the federal government’s Strategic National Stockpile.
Federal officials are reportedly giving out 25 percent of the stockpile to states according to population size and 25 percent to states with the greatest need, while leaving 50 percent for “strategic reserve.”
Whitmer has pressured the federal government to send more supplies and protective gear for health care workers, while criticizing the lack of planning and strategy on the national level, leaving governors to compete for test kits, ventilators, and other medical supplies.
“We’ve gotten some of these contracts (for PPE), but just last night, I was informed by the team that some of these contracts are being cancelled because the goods are been redirected to the federal government,” she said. “It’s one thing to tell us we have to find things elsewhere, it’s a whole other to get in the way of our ability to do that.”
But Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.) told The Detroit News that the governor’s office has not been specific in its requests for supplies.
“My job is not to just vaguely grocery shop,” Mitchell told the news outlet.
As of Thursday afternoon, Michigan has reported 2,856 positive cases of COVID-19 and 60 deaths, where 85% of the cases are in Metro Detroit.
See Detroit Free Press and The Hill for more.
