Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) says she is “very disappointed” President Donald Trump is considering a pardon for the men who were convicted of a plot to kidnap the Michigan governor in 2020.
Whitmer has been cordial with Trump this year, appearing with him at events and speaking with him, though it has also seemed awkward at times. She held up a folder in front of her face to prevent being spotted in the Oval Office at one point in a viral photo.
“[I’m] very disappointed that they are even considering it, frankly,” she told NBC affiliate WOOD-TV.
Trump said he was going to “look at” pardoning the men. “I’m going to look at it,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House. “I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention.”
Trump told reporters he watched the Whitmer kidnapping plot trials, describing them as a “railroad job.”
“They were drinking and I think they said stupid things, but I’ll take a look at that,” he said. “A lot of people are asking me that question from both sides. Actually, a lot of people think they got railroaded.”
Whitmer suggested Trump should condemn any act of political violence “no matter who it comes from.”
“When the president was shot at in Pennsylvania, I was one of the first people on either side of the aisle to condemn it,” she added. “We have to condemn political violence, no matter who it comes from, no matter who it is aimed at. It does a disservice to everyone if we do anything short of that.”
Whitmer hopes Trump will listen to her before making a decision. “I will be making my thoughts known to the White House and I hope they take it into consideration,” she said.
The men, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., were caught in August 2020 after they tried to buy explosives they were going to use in their plan to kidnap Whitmer from FBI agents. They were convicted in their second trial in 2022 of two counts of conspiracy and attempts to use a weapon of mass destruction.
TRUMP ‘GOING TO LOOK AT’ PARDONING GRETCHEN WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOTTERS
Ed Martin, now Trump’s pardon attorney, showed past interest in pardoning the men.
“On the pardon front, we can’t leave these guys behind,” Martin told The Breanna Morello Show this week. “In my opinion, these are victims just like Jan. 6.”