In the aftermath of Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is urging a lowering of the temperature on political discourse in the country.
Whitmer, in a statement released Sunday night, said the shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania that injured Trump and left a rally-goer and the gunman dead, was just the latest in a string of incidences of political violence in the United States. That includes the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Virginia, the plot to kidnap and kill her that was broken up in October 2020, the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the October 2022 in-home assault on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
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“Behind all these incidents is rhetoric,” said Whitmer. “We have seen calls to hate, harm, or jail political opponents. Violent conspiracies from the seediest corners of the internet have become incorporated into stump speeches. We have lost the plot when it comes to the way we talk to each other and about each other.”
Her call echoed that of President Joe Biden, who spoke to the nation from the White House Sunday, saying “there is no place in America for this kind of violence or any violence for that matter.”
In her statement, Whitmer said the impact of the political “vitriol” had broken relationships, marriages, friendships and families.
“Almost everyone can think of someone they don’t talk to anymore because of politics. I’ve met with Michiganders across the state who are living these consequences every day. There’s just a deep-rooted sense of anger and distrust,” said the governor, who noted that those casting their ballots this year for the first time were born in 2006.
“Think of what they have seen. Imagine what they must think about our politics. Is it a hopeful, inspiring arena where you can argue passionately for what you believe in? No. For much of their lives, politics has been dark, defined by worsening rhetoric and violence,” said Whitmer. “It is no surprise that they remain cynical or pessimistic about the future. We need their passion and energy to move us forward, but we risk extinguishing it with our words and actions.”
Whitmer appealed to people to focus on what they each have in common and not so much on what they disagree about.
“We must remember that while we stand on different sides of the aisle, we all want the same things. Our kids go to the same schools. We shop at the same stores. We live in the same towns and cities. If you love your country, you love your countrymen and women. That’s the deal,” she said.
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