Whitmer kidnapping plot: Michigan governor, in essay, again blames Trump's 'violent rhetoric'
The FBI has released no evidence showing Trump's rhetoric inspired the plot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wrote an essay in The Atlantic on Tuesday about a foiled plot to kidnap her but spent nearly every word making a case against reelecting President Trump.
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"We cannot count on President Trump to rebuild America," Whitmer wrote in her essay, titled "The Plot to Kidnap Me." "We cannot expect him to unite us against violence and hate. Fueling the deep divisions within our country is a tactic he has been using for years, often with the help of social media platforms like Facebook, which domestic terrorists used to organize the plot against me."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In a photo provided by the Michigan Office of the Governor, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Mich., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP)
Whitmer has repeatedly blamed Trump's rhetoric for the plot, in which more than a dozen people were arrested in October as state and federal authorities thwarted a militia group's plan.
"Every time the president ramps up this violent rhetoric, every time he fires up Twitter to launch another broadside against me, my family and I see a surge of vicious attacks sent our way," she wrote on Tuesday. "This is no coincidence, and the president knows it."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Investigators surveilled the kidnapping plot in August and September, according to an FBI affidavit, and four of the men planned to meet to “make a payment on explosives and exchange tactical gear.”
The FBI quoted one of the men as saying Whitmer “has no checks and balances at all. She has uncontrolled power right now. All good things must come to an end.”
The bureau has released no evidence showing Trump's rhetoric inspired the plot. His name appears nowhere in its affidavit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Whitmer, meanwhile, was accused by the Trump campaign of encouraging assassination attempts on the president after displaying the numbers “8645” in the background of a national television interview earlier in October.
“Governor Gretchen Whitmer displayed an '86 45' sign during her TV appearance,” Trump War Room tweeted, adding: “86 can be shorthand for killing someone.”
“Whitmer is encouraging assassination attempts against President Trump just weeks after someone sent a ricin-laced package to the White House,” the Trump campaign claimed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Whitmer is the national co-chair of Democratic nominee Joe Biden's campaign.
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Fox News' Ronn Blitzer, Danielle Wallace and Stephanie Pagones and the Associated Press contributed to this report.