Gretchen Whitmer criticizes Trump after his Michigan visit centered on illegal immigration

Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer slammed former President Donald Trump after he visited her state on Tuesday to address the murder of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia, who was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant.

Whitmer appeared on CNN with host Kaitlan Collins Tuesday night to discuss a range of issues, including Trump’s comments on illegal immigration. The former president spoke at a campaign event with law enforcement in Grand Rapids on Tuesday afternoon, where he warned that the ongoing border crisis under President Joe Biden has turned “every state” into “a border state.”

“The former president was in Grand Rapids today, and he was capitalizing on a horrible tragedy that happened here,” Whitmer said. “There is a family that is grieving the loss of Ruby Garcia, and she was a real person with a real story. And it’s a horrible story that happened.”

“All of that being said, [Trump] came in to perpetrate the continued storyline that he had done everything to keep us safe, which is boloney,” Whitmer continued. “We know that under the Trump administration, he actually called me, the governor of Michigan, to ask that we send the National Guard to help with surveillance on the southern border, and we helped him out because he couldn’t get it done.”

The Michigan governor also blamed Trump for Congress failing to pass legislation containing certain border and immigration reforms, which Biden had requested be signed into law before he took further action to address the border.

“He’s also the reason that the negotiation in Washington, D.C., didn’t come to fruition. He torpedoed a deal that would’ve had the strongest border security in decades in this country that President Biden put on the table. He told Republicans to walk away and they did,” Whitmer said.

Trump had branded the border legislation the “Stupid Bill” and said Republicans shouldn’t vote for it “unless we get EVERYTHING needed to shut down the INVASION of Millions & Millions of people, many from parts unknown, into our once great, but soon to be great again, Country!” GOP leaders in the House opposed the bill, arguing that “it fails in every policy area needed to secure our border and would actually incentivize more illegal immigration.”

During his Tuesday speech in Michigan, Trump called Whitmer “a terrible governor,” who along with Biden, is “stealing your money to give free housing to illegals and then asking you to quarter these people.”

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Whitmer responded to Trump’s criticism, telling Collins that “those talking points don’t matter a whole lot to people every day.”

“Michiganders are hardworking people. They want leaders who see what they’re struggling with and work to solve those problems, and that’s exactly what I will continue to stay focused on, and I know that’s what President Biden will continue to stay focused on,” she added.

Republican leaders in Michigan have raised concerns about a new “Michigan Newcomer Rental Subsidy Program” established by the Whitmer administration that hands out up to $500 a month to refugees and migrants. The GOP lawmakers said the program could be helping people who entered the country illegally pay for housing in the state.

“Gretchen Whitmer’s rent subsidy program makes handouts available to illegals who were caught in the country and then frantically claimed asylum to avoid deportation,” Michigan House Republican Leader Matt Hall told The Daily Wire last week. “The Whitmer administration must come clean about this dubious program to the taxpayers who are paying for it. Michiganders shouldn’t have their dollars taken to reward those who broke our immigration laws.”