'Not sure how to process it': Whitmer accuses Trump of lying to her face

29 May

U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, as he arrives at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Michigan, U.S., April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

When President Donald Trump asked Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) her thoughts on pardoning Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox – the men accused of scheming to kidnap her — she made it clear she wouldn't like it. And Trump changed the subject.

Whitmer thought that was the end of the conversation until recently, when Trump said he was looking into the potential pardons of two men in prison for the kidnapping plot. That's according to a recent Detroit News report, in which Whitmer said she was caught off-guard by this week's news of the possible pardons.

"I'll be honest with you," Whitmer said during a Thursday interview with the Michigan Public Radio Network. "I talked to the president about a month ago, and he asked me how I'd feel about this, and I said, 'I think it would be the wrong decision, I would oppose it.' And he said, 'OK, I'll drop it.' Now we see this revelation. So, I'm not sure how to process it."

Croft Jr., who is 49, and Fox, who is 42, were convicted in a 2020 trial of conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer in response to her Covid-19 pandemic policies aimed at containing the virus. The men had hatched a plot to overwhelm the governor's security detail at her summer home on Mackinac Island and abscond with her, and even apparently contemplated detonating a bomb under a highway overpass. Croft Jr. was sentenced to more than 19 years for the plot, while Fox was given a 16-year sentence. Trump referred to their prosecution as a "railroad job" in which the men were punished for saying "stupid things."

The two-term Michigan governor's comments are particularly noteworthy given that she was quick to condemn the attempt on Trump's life during a July 2024 rally in Pennsylvania, in which a gunman with a scoped rifle took several shots at Trump while he was speaking onstage. The Detroit News reported that Whitmer was one of the first prominent Democrats to denounce the assassination attempt.

"I think anything short of condemning political violence does a disservice to everyone," Whitmer said at the time.

Trump's pardons of far-right activists and loyal supporters have been more frequent during his second term, starting with his mass pardons of approximately 1,500 defendants involved in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Ed Martin — who was interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia – is now the Department of Justice's pardon attorney, and has announced a "no MAGA left behind" policy that prioritizes freeing Trump's most loyal supporters.

Click here to read the Detroit News' full report.

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