Governor Says Trump Is Withholding Medical Supplies From Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said that the Trump administration told vendors not to send needed ventilators to her state of Michigan.

Crain’s Detroit Business reported:
“When the federal government told us that we needed to go it ourselves, we started procuring every item we could get our hands on,” Whitmer said Friday on WWJ 950AM. “What I’ve gotten back is that vendors with whom we had contracts are now being told not to send stuff here to Michigan.”

Whitmer didn’t say who has told vendors to stop sending medical supplies to the state, but strongly implied the order came from President Donald Trump’s administration.

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“It’s really concerning,” Whitmer said Friday morning on WWJ. “I reached out to the White House, asked for a phone call with the president, ironically at the same time that all of this other stuff was going on.”

Whitmer’s comments came after Trump went on Fox News and bashed her while falsely claiming that she wasn’t on top of the situation.

The Trump administration is using the power and influence of the federal government to withhold supplies from Michigan.

Trump, who spent weeks calling the coronavirus a hoax, and doing nothing, is now trying to pass the buck by claiming that governors are mismanaging the crisis.

The governors have been pleading with Trump to use the Defense Production Act, which he has refused to do. At the heart of Trump’s retribution against Michigan is his anger at automakers for not immediately producing ventilators.

The US doesn’t have adequate medical supplies, and Trump won’t take the steps needed to spur an increase in production. Trump’s response to this crisis has been corrupt, petty, incompetent, and deadly.

Trump is making the coronavirus epidemic worse with behavior that is bordering on criminal.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association