Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Again Claims Protesters with ‘Automatic Rifles’ Came to Her House

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) claims citizens with “automatic rifles” showed up on her lawn when President Donald Trump focused on her refusal to reopen her state after the coronavirus shutdown.

Whitmer appeared on the No Lie with Bryan Tyler Cohen podcast, during which he suggested the outworking of Trump’s focus on her extended shutdown “increased the number of death threats, it increased the number of people showing up on [her] front lawn with automatic rifles.”

She then contended that the focus on her was a political move, “designed to tear us apart for the benefit of a re-election and that’s criminal.”

On September 11, 2020, Fox 2 quoted Trump telling Michigan residents, “Michigan has already gained and regained more than half of the jobs that it lost — and if your state was ever allowed to safely reopen by your governor, who doesn’t have a clue, just like Joe [Biden], you would have gained far more than that.”

He added, “Open up your state, Madam Governor. Open up your state!”

Whitmer’s reference to “automatic” firearm is not new. On May 26, 2020, Breitbart News reported that she claimed protesters with “automatic rifles” were outside her home. She provided no evidence to show how she ascertained the firearms were “automatic.” She simply said, “My family has had men with automatic rifles standing in view of our front window outside our home.”

On June 17, 2014, Breitbart News reported Hillary Clinton’s claim that we need more laws to stop people from entering schools “with an automatic weapon” and committing heinous crimes. She did not provide a single example of an “automatic weapon” being used in a school shooting, but she did mention the December 14, 2012, attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School attacker did not use an automatic firearm.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.