Tuesday on NBC’s “Today 3rd Hour,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) denied the lockdown protests impacted her decision to reopen regions of her state.
Whitmer said, “I worked with the coalition of public health experts and business leaders. We assess risk inherent to different sectors of our economy and different parts of our state. We know that our greatest strengths are the ability to test, the ability to trace, and the ability to isolate. Where we can do that, we can safely start some additional reengagement.”
Host Craig Melvin asked, “There have been a number of vocal protests there in your state capital. Some Republican lawmakers are still suing you over the stay-at-home order saying that you went too far with the executive order. How much did the pressure play into the decision to reopen parts of the state?”
Whitmer said, “None. I’m not going to succumb to political pressure or political demonstrations or social media pressure. The fact of the matter is we have to listen to our epidemiologists, experts in our phenomenal research universities and Michigan. We are talking with international experts as well. We’re going to stay tethered to the data, follow the science, and we’ve got to get this right. Anything else puts people in jeopardy, and I’m not willing to do that.”
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