GOP candidate for governor calls Whitmer a 'dictator' despite alleged assassination plot against her

Governor Gretchen Whitmer is up for re-election in 2022, and she now has her first Republican challenger: Austin Chenge, a 35-year-old businessman and Army veteran from Grand Rapids who, like some of the governor's other critics, calls her a "dictator."

"There's a pandemic in Michigan, but it's not the coronavirus," Chenge says on his campaign website. "It's the dictator formerly known as Gov Whitmer who only cares about personal ambition & is burying Michigan families/hard working Americans to achieve it..."

Whitmer has repeatedly asked for her critics to turn down the "dictator" rhetoric, which has been used against her by ex-President Donald Trump and Michigan state Sen. Mike Shirkey. Metro Times asked the Chenge campaign via email if he thought it was a good idea to call her a "dictator" — especially considering the FBI recently revealed Whitmer was the target of an alleged assassination plot, which Whitmer later said she believed stems from the heated rhetoric from the right and foreshadowed the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.

Plus, recent polling has found public support for Whitmer to be around 60%. Could calling her a "dictator" be bad for Chenge's political ambitions — and more importantly, dangerous for the Governor?

Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2021/01/28/gop-candidate-for-governor-calls-whitmer-a-dictator-despite-alleged-assassination-plot-against-her