The Trump campaign on Sunday accused Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer of encouraging the assassination of Donald Trump because of an item on her desk during a Meet The Press interview which bore the numbers 86 and 45.
Newsweek reports: “The collection of numbers, as listed on Urban Dictionary, is ‘a sneaky way to illustrate one’s support of getting rid of Trump, ’86ing’ the 45th president.’ Anti-Trump apparel bearing the same symbol uses similar descriptions of its meaning. Merriam-Webster defines eighty-six as a slang term synonymous with the following phrases: ‘to refuse to serve (a customer)’, ‘to get rid of’, or ‘throw out’.”
Said a Whitmer spokesperson to Newsweek: “The silly season is officially here. It’s pretty clear nobody in the Trump campaign has ever worked a food service job. Here’s the bottom line: the president is not only a super spreader of COVID-19, he is also a super spreader of hate and fear. His divisive rhetoric needs to stop, and we need a president who will bring Americans together to defeat COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, at a rally in Muskegon on Saturday, Trump targeted Whitmer, who was the target of a kidnap/murder plot by a pro-Trump Michigan militia this month, encouraging his supporters to chant “lock her up” before smirking and joining in: “Lock them all up.”
Tweeted Whitmer in response: “This is exactly the rhetoric that has put me, my family, and other government officials’ lives in danger while we try to save the lives of our fellow Americans. It needs to stop.”
In related news, federal prosecutors released evidence in the plot against Whitmer which included videos of militia members doing training exercises with assault weapons.
Mediaite reports: “On Friday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge released evidence that was used this week in a hearing for the six men charged in a plot to kidnap, hold a “trial” for, and murder the Democratic Michigan governor — Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta — and those exhibits include videos and texts that cut against the absurd theory that the men merely intended to effect a citizen’s arrest.”
