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GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, May 27, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Conservative activists and elected officials in Michigan have been relentless in their attacks on Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the last several days. Whitmer was recently caught violating her own mask mandate at a bar in the capital city of Lansing with a group of friends. She’s also under fire for lying about a personal trip she took to Florida during the COVID-19 outbreak.
But this week isn’t the first time Republicans in the Wolverine State have called out the first-term, pro-abortion Democrat. On May 14 at the “America’s Comeback Tour” with Nigel Farage in Grand Rapids, grassroots leaders and public officials told LifeSiteNews that Whitmer’s authoritarian administration is effectively destroying the state.
“It's certainly hard to work with somebody who's working unilaterally, unconstitutionally, and using unelected bureaucrats to control and usurp power of the legislature,” Republican Steve Carra told LifeSite at the rally.
Carra is a pro-life state representative who recently announced he’s running to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Fred Upton, who has been in office since 1987. Upton, along with fellow Michigan GOP Congressman Peter Meijer, was one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach President Donald Trump earlier this year.
Carra has taken a leading role in Michigan politics regarding the coronavirus. He recently authored HB 4791, which would outlaw discriminatory COVID measures like mask mandates from being implemented by the state. He informed LifeSite that he’s working on a bill with fellow state Representative Matt Maddock, a Republican, that would push back against social media censorship.
“It's unfortunate that we're up against this with … the media and big government,” he said. “They want to continue to control our lives and to make our decisions for us.”
Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock, who is married to Rep. Maddock, echoed Carra’s comments about Whitmer.
“It feels like Gretchen Whitmer is maybe signaling that she's looking at the polling numbers,” Maddock said, alluding to the fact that Whitmer partially lifted her draconian lockdown orders earlier this month. “I think she's in a free fall and she's freaking out a little bit. So she's deciding that maybe she should pay attention to the angry masses that are tired of being shut down and restrained.”
Grand Rapids radio host Justin Barclay told LifeSite he too believes Michiganians are finally catching on to what’s happening.
“The good news is people are waking up. They always said — especially our governor — that they’re following ‘the science’ and ‘the data.’ Well, they never told you that it was ‘political science’ and ‘polling data’ that they were following.”
“We've got to open up, we've got to get things back and moving,” he continued. “If you’re still presiding over a state that is locked down, shut down, well, then you lost the battle.”
Barclay, who hosts a morning show called West Michigan Live With Justin Barclay, further said that, in reality, Whitmer isn’t necessarily to blame. Rather, the people of Michigan are.
“I don't know how popular this is going to be, but we gave our freedom away. They didn't take it from us. We volunteered it up. And it's our time to say, ‘You know what? Not anymore! We're taking it back.’”
Approximately 600 patriots attended the “America’s Comeback Tour” with Nigel Farage at the DeltaPlex Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan earlier this month. Farage’s main message to the pro-Trump crowd was that Western Civilization is under attack from Marxism and cancel culture and that conservatives need to get mobilized in order to protect their freedoms. Whitmer’s term in office ends January 1, 2023. Several Republicans have already announced their candidacy for governor.