Gov. Whitmer calls Trump rally in Lansing a 'recipe for disaster' as COVID-19 cases surge

LANSING -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called President Donald Trump's planned campaign rally in Lansing on Tuesday "a recipe for disaster" among soaring coronavirus case numbers and urged the public not to attend the event.

Whitmer, speaking live Sunday on two Detroit television stations, also urged parents to pull their children out of high school winter sports such as hockey, basketball and wrestling if some of the other students involved in those activities are not wearing masks.

Whitmer made her comments after the state on Saturday reported 3,338 new coronavirus cases Saturday. That is a record high since the pandemic began in March, though hospitalization rates and fatalities are still well below their April peaks.

The Michigan governor's comments also came amid news that several top aides to Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Oakland County Thursday, have tested positive for the coronavirus, including Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short. Despite that, the White House said Pence plans to maintain his campaign travel schedule, with daily testing.

Trump announced Friday he will hold a Tuesday afternoon rally at Capital District International Airport in Lansing.

"I am concerned about it," Whitmer, a national co-chair of former vice president Joe Biden's Democratic presidential campaign, said Sunday on WYXZ-TV (Channel 7), urging the public not to attend the event.

"Coming together and bringing groups who are not wearing masks, where they are projecting their voices, this is a recipe for disaster."

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Trump, who recently recovered from COVID-19, "has shown he can't even protect his own self from getting COVID, and now the vice president's top people have COVID," said Whitmer.

Biden has been holding much smaller campaign events, requiring face masks and physical distancing for those who attend. The Trump campaign has distributed face masks at his much larger campaign events, but videos show many attendees do not wear them in crowds where people are seated side-by-side.

Interviewed Sunday on WDIV-TV (Channel 4), Whitmer was asked whether high school winter sports such as hockey, basketball and wrestling are "in jeopardy" because of the rising case numbers.

More: Michigan reports new highest number of daily coronavirus cases on Saturday

More: President Trump to hold campaign rally in Lansing on Tuesday

Whitmer said such decisions are mainly made at the local level.

However, "I just want to be very blunt in my assessment, as a parent," Whitmer said. She said she has had friends ask if their children should participate in events where some children are wearing masks and some are not.

"If that was my child, I would pull them out," Whitmer said. "If you are going into a business and they are not enforcing their mask mandate, it means they're not doing what they need to protect you, and you should walk out. Each of us has choices that we need to make, and none of them is fun ... and yet, we have to have some personal responsibility here and make choices to protect our families, to protect our businesses, and to protect ourselves."

In both interviews, Whitmer called the steady increase in Michigan cases "alarming," and stressed the importance of wearing face masks, maintaining physical distancing, and washing hands in order to avoid Michigan "having to take steps backward."

Whitmer, who saw her powers under the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945 struck down by an Oct. 2 ruling of the Michigan Supreme Court, said orders issued by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services requiring face masks and limiting the size of gatherings are in place and have the force of law, despite the court ruling. The director of that department has pandemic powers to issue further orders if necessary, she said.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer calls Trump rally in Lansing a 'recipe for disaster' as COVID-19 cases surge

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