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Gov. Whitmer Sunday on "Meet the Press"
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday called ex-President Donald Trump and the three Supreme Court judges he appointed liars when it comes to the hot-button issue of abortion.
"He’s lied. He’s lied over and over again to the people of this country," Whitmer said of Trump during her appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." "The only person who should be making a decision about whether and when to have a child is a woman, the people she loves and trusts and her doctor, period."
During his tenure, Trump appointed conservative Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch. All had said during Senate hearings that they believed that Roe v Wade was the law of the land and indicated they had no plans to vote to overturn it. All voted to repeal the law.
Trump has also been backpeddling on his stance on abortion, and has refused to say what law is appropriate, only saying that it should be up to each state. At the same time, he's bragged about appointing judges who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. Whitmer says Trump had previously said he'd sign a national abortion ban.
"I think we should be holding Donald Trump accountable," Whitmer said of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
"Let’s remember the reason that we’re in this mess," she said, suggesting it's because of "three people who lied to Congress when they said they thought Roe was the settled law of the land. He put them on that court."
"He put them on that court and they are the reason that Roe was ripped away from Americans. They lied to us. He has lied to us. You cannot trust anything Donald Trump says about this issue, or frankly, in my opinion, a whole host of others.”
"Our choices could not be more stark," Whitmer said about the upcoming presidential election. "We have a president right now who is standing between a national abortion ban and has used his powers to expand access for women in this country, and the guy who appointed three lying Supreme Court justices to the bench who are the architects of the Roe repeal."
"Let’s be very clear, Donald Trump did this."
"Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker also asked Whitmer if the Israel-Gaza war could cost President Biden Michigan because of the large Arab and Muslim population in the state that has been vocal about the White House policy in the Middle East.
"I think the state of Michigan is always going to be a close race no matter under what scenario," she said. "I”ve had converstations with people both in my Jewish community and in the Arab American and Muslim and Palestinian communities, that a lot of people are hurting right now. A lot people are one degree of separation from someone who’s lost their lives, whether it was on Oct. 7th or is in the war in Gaza. And so I’m trying to keep an open diaglouge to stay focused on how we support these beautiful diverse communities here in Michgian and I’m hoping for peace."
"But obviously after the events in the last 24 hours there’s a lot that is evolving here and I’m glad to see that our president said...we have an iron clad commitment to a security of Israel."
When asked if Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, she said she prefers to refrain from using inflamatory terms in situations like this.
