Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that the lockdown protests were “racist and misogynistic” — and noted that such scenes make it “likelier” that residents will have to stay home even longer to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Whitmer told ABC’s “The View” that the protests were “really political” as demonstrators have brought nooses, rifles and Nazi symbols along with Confederate flags, The Hill reported.
“This is not appropriate in a global pandemic,” said Whitmer, whose name has been floated as a potential running mate for Joe Biden and who received threats over the lockdown.
“It’s certainly not an exercise of democratic principles where we have free speech. This is calls to violence. This is racist and misogynistic.”
She also asked that those who have a public “platform” use it “to stop encouraging this behavior because it only makes it that much more precarious for us to try to re-engage our economy,” and to promote the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for reopening.
“The whole point of them supposedly is that they don’t want to be doing that. And that is why I’m asking anyone with a platform to call on people to do the right thing,” she said.
Protests have broken out against Whitmer’s stay-at-home order over the past month as some residents want the state economy and businesses to reopen.
Whitmer extended the state’s stay-at-home order last week to May 28 from the previous deadline of May 15.
President Trump has voiced support for the protesters, calling them “very good people.”
Michigan has recorded 48,021 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4,674 deaths, according to the state health department.
Despite the protests, some polling showed that the majority of Michigan residents approved of Whitmer’s handling of the pandemic, including the state’s stay-at-home order.
The survey, conducted after the protests last month by the Detroit Regional Chamber, found that 57 percent of residents approved of Whitmer’s coronavirus response, while just 37 percent disapproved.
Overall, a majority of Americans disapprove of protests against restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, another poll showed.
The new survey from the University of Chicago Divinity School and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 55 percent of Americans disapprove of the protests while 31 percent approve.
