Ex-Detroit Police Chief Blasts Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: 'America Is Not a Monarchy'
As a longtime chief of the Detroit police, James Craig had to know when to stand up to bullies.
Whether it was taking on progressives who attacked his police officers for their actions on the street, or taking on liberals like Rep. Rashida Tlaib stalking the hallways, Craig has made a national reputation for straight-talking.
And when it comes to his state’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the now-former police chief has some harsh words — and they’re right on target.
In a speech on Tuesday — his first since retiring from the Detroit Police Department in June — Craig took direct aim at Whitmer, who has made a national reputation of her own as a Democrat who abused the power of her office under the guise of controlling the coronavirus pandemic.
Whitmer has imposed strict lockdowns that liberals loved but had her own people in revolt.
She also felt it unnecessary apparently to follow the same rules herself.
In short, she’s been acting like a queen ruling by divine right rather than a public servant duly elected by the people.
And Craig was not letting it go.
“Please listen to me, Gov. Whitmer: America isn’t a monarchy,” Craig said in his speech, according to Fox News.”We aren’t ruled by kings and queens; we ended that back in 1776.”
“At the ballot box in November, in the year of 2022, we will be celebrating our independence from the rule of Governor Whitmer,” former Detroit Police Chief, James Craig said. https://t.co/UMYPihqIlK
— WLNS Newsroom (@WLNS) July 7, 2021
That’s a brutal truth of history.
It’s also something Democrats need to be reminded of on a regular basis, since the party’s leading lights act like the grandees of the ancien regime a little too often. Whitmer’s Democratic counterpart in California, Gavin Newsom, is facing a recall election, in part, for playing the scofflaw when it came to obeying the coronavirus restrictions he’d imposed on others.
In Michigan, Whitmer’s husband, Marc Malloy, attempted to bigfoot a marina into getting his boat into the water in time for Memorial Day 2020. Not only was Malloy seeking preferential treatment, but he was also doing it at a time when Whitmer was officially discouraging the kind of travel it would take for Malloy and his family to even get to the boat.
But to the aristocracy, the rules are for the little people.
Craig is widely considered to be a potential Republican contender for governor in 2022, and his speech on Tuesday only fed that idea.
Noting that the gathering was celebrating the Republican Party’s official beginning at an 1854 convention in Jackson, Michigan, the town where he was speaking, Craig made a point of evoking the party’s great names of the past — and the present.
“Today, we celebrate the 157th anniversary of the founding of the Republican Party,” Craig said to cheers from the crowd.
“The party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan … and Donald Trump.”
Recently-retired Detroit Police Chief James Craig takes the stage at today’s event. Craig is considered a potential Republican challenger to Governor Gretchen Whitmer in next year’s gubernatorial election #Jackson #Michigan pic.twitter.com/Aghj2dlQo5
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) July 6, 2021
Of course, it’s easy at a Republican Party event like Tuesday’s gathering of the Jackson County Republican Committee to invoke the name of Donald Trump alongside Lincoln, the first Roosevelt and Reagan, but Craig had to know the cameras were going to be on him.
And he had to know that, if he does run for governor of Michigan, his enemies are going to attack from any angle possible — and in contemporary politics, that means attacking Trump, too.
So Craig had to know the line was would be incendiary in the long run — if he does run. But that didn’t stop him.
Very few liberals can even slow him down, it appears.
He had no problem taking on Tlaib when she called police officers racist, for instance.
He has no problem standing up to Whitmer now — the woman who runs a Democratic government that’s establishing a sad reputation for petty vindictiveness. Where else does a state attorney general openly insult her white constituents — and in writing?
Clearly, bullying is a way of government in the Capitol building in Lansing. And clearly, James Craig knows how to stand up to it.
Gretchen Whitmer should be listening carefully. And maybe thinking about a new line of work.
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