President Donald Trump said he would look at pardoning the men convicted in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and swiped at the legitimacy of the case.
“I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention,” Trump said while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. “I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job.”
The president said he thought the men convicted in the case, which occurred on the eve of the 2020 election, “were drinking” and “said stupid things.”
Fourteen men were charged in the plan to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, and nine were convicted. The ringleader of the group, Barry Croft Jr., was given the longest sentence at more than 19 years.
Whitmer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2020, Whitmer placed some of the blame for the kidnapping plot on Trump’s rhetoric.
“Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups,” she said, referring to Trump’s comments at the presidential debate against Joe Biden.
“Hate groups heard the president’s words not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry,” she added. “As a call to action. When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight. When our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimize their actions and they are complicit.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Jonathan Allen contributed.
