Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) suggested on Tuesday that President Trump focus on getting more coronavirus tests to states rather than tinkering with immigration, telling The Associated Press "this is what we need right now — not additional new things to be upset about, fearful of, or mad about."
Trump announced in Tuesday evening's coronavirus briefing that he is temporarily blocking most immigrants from receiving green cards. This is "scary" for immigrants, Whitmer told AP, and Trump's "broad statements" are "so problematic and counter" to what the country needs right now.
Whitmer also argued the coronavirus briefings do more harm than good, with Trump touting medications that haven't been proven to help treat coronavirus. "I think that the nightly briefing has yielded a lot of inconsistent messages to the public — messages that put people in greater danger," she said.
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The governor has been vocal in her displeasure with Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and in return, Trump late last month said he has a "big problem" with the "young, a woman governor" in Michigan, adding, "all she does is sit there and blame the federal government."
More than 2,700 people have died from COVID-19 in Michigan, and about a quarter of the state's workforce has filed for unemployment, AP reports. Whitmer said that hearing other governors in Georgia and South Carolina talk about reopening their economies later this week gives her "great pause." States need to be "really methodical and data-driven about what sectors of our economy we engage in when it is going to be a slow re-entry," she said. "Our biggest concern, of course, is a second wave. The worst thing would be for us to spike the football and think we are outside of the danger zone, and to re-engage and find another peak of COVID-19."
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