Michigan GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon mocks 2020 kidnapping plot against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
AP Photo/Paul Sancya
- Michigan GOP gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon mocked the kidnapping plot against Gov. Whitmer.
- "Gretchen Whitmer sure is good at taking business hostage and holding it for ransom," Dixon said.
- Two men were convicted in the plot, in which they sought to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home.
Michigan Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon on Friday mocked the kidnapping plot against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, her opponent in the November general election.
During two campaign events, Dixon made light of the high-profile 2020 domestic terrorism plot, which was widely seen as a harbinger of the increased threat of political violence in the United States.
Two men have been convicted in the plot, in which they sought to kidnap the governor from her vacation home. Prosecutors said that the men had eyed destroying a bridge in order to cripple the governor's security detail and any responding police officers.
"The sad thing is Gretchen will tie your hands, put a gun to your head, and ask if you are ready to talk. For someone so worried about getting kidnapped, Gretchen Whitmer sure is good at taking business hostage and holding it for ransom," Dixon said at a campaign appearance in Troy, Mich., a suburb of Detroit.
Her comments elicited an audible applause from many of the attendees.
At a rally in Muskegon, a city in western Michigan, Dixon poked at an appearance that Whitmer made with President Joe Biden, who recently visited state and toured the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Once again, Dixon referenced the 2020 kidnapping plot to lob an attack at her opponent.
"The look on her face was like, 'Oh, my gosh, this is happening. I'd rather be kidnapped by the FBI,'" she said at the event.
Dixon then stated that her previous comments were not a joke.
"If you were afraid of that, you should know what it is to have your life ripped away from you," the Republican candidate said.
Per CNN, she later said: "I think when you're being attacked everyday, you have to have a little levity in things — we can still have fun."
Democrats immediately criticized Dixon over her comments.
Maeve Coyle, a spokeswoman for Whitmer's campaign, said in a statement that the governor "has faced serious threats to her safety and her life" and said that Dixon's statements made her "unfit" to become a public servant.
"Threats of violence — whether to Governor Whitmer or to candidates and elected officials on the other side of the aisle — are no laughing matter, and the fact that Tudor Dixon thinks it's a joke shows that she is absolutely unfit to serve in public office," she said.
Insider contacted Dixon's campaign office for comment, but didn't immediately receive a reply Saturday.
Democratic Governors Association spokesman Sam Newton blasted Dixon's statements as "dangerous."
"Tudor Dixon's comments are dangerous, an insult to law enforcement who keep us safe, and utterly disqualifying for the role of Michigan governor," he said.
Whitmer, who was easily elected governor in 2018, has since been widely criticized by conservatives for enacting a range of COVID-19 restrictions, with the Republican-controlled state legislature suing her over her extensions of emergency powers during the pandemic.
However, as the 2022 election approached, Republicans fumbled in their gubernatorial nomination process, as several candidates — including onetime frontrunner James Craig — were removed from the ballot over forged petition signatures.
Dixon won the August GOP primary after receiving a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, but she is currently trailing Whitmer in most public polling.
In a newly-released EPIC-MRA poll, Whitmer led Dixon by 16-percentage points (55%-39%).
Trump is set to appear alongside Dixon at an Oct. 1 rally in Macomb County, a populous suburban jurisdiction outside Detroit.