Gov. Northam Blames Trump Tweet for Mich. Kidnapping Plot

EXCERPT:

REPORTER: "So in response to your office’s statement earlier about this alleged kidnapping plot, the White House sent a statement basically condemning the alleged kidnapping, but also blaming you and Governor Whitmer for making these outlandish allegations about -- what they would call outlandish allegations about the president being the one encouraging violence. So how do you respond to that? And what specific examples do you see of the president encouraging violence against you?"
NORTHAM: "Let me answer the second part of your question. Back in, I believe it was April, the months tend to run together, the CDC offered guidelines on how to combat the spread of COVID-19. And in those outlines, were wearing facial masks, social distancing, and hand washing. Things that we had already been advocating for. And two days later, the president said to liberate Virginia. So that’s an example of mixed messages coming out of Washington which we’ve been seeing since the beginning of this pandemic. But words have meaning to people, and so when our leaders make statements like this, and that’s just one example of many. I know you all are well aware of other things that have been said, but again, when we’re listening to the people, which is what I’ve done as governor, I work with our legislature, they responded to the previous election as well. And I realized I’ve been in this long enough that not everything we do is agreeable to all Virginians, but when language is used such as 'to liberate Virginia,' people, they find meaning in those words and thus these things happen, and that’s regrettable."