Biden slams Trump for failing to condemn would-be kidnapping plot on Michigan governor: ‘Sort of behaviour you’d expect from Isis’

‘There is not a better governor in the United States of America than Gretchen Whitmer’

At a speech in Michigan billed as remarks about the Affordable Care Act, Joe Biden paid tribute to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, following the recent discovery of the plot to kidnap her.

“There is not a better governor in the United States of America than Gretchen Whitmer,” he said. "You've shown this whole nation just how tough and thoughtful you are. Tough just like Michigan."

The former vice president then referred to the plotters as “domestic terrorists”, adding: “It's the sort of behavior you might expect from ISIS. ... And the failure to condemn these folks is stunning from the outset.”

Mr Biden reiterated his rebuke of Donald Trump, that “Words matter. And the words of a president particularly matter.”

He then referenced the president’s infamous “dog whistle” tweet to “Liberate Michigan” and linked it back to Trump’s comments about “very fine people on both sides” in Charlottesville.

Five men are accused of playing a role in the plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer and have appeared in court this week to establish whether they should be detained before trial.

Adam Fox, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta are all Michigan residents. A sixth man, Barry Croft, is being held in Delaware.

The FBI made arrests after using confidential sources, undercover agents and clandestine recordings to foil the alleged kidnapping conspiracy.

Some defendants had apparently conducted coordinated surveillance of the Democratic governor’s vacation home in northern Michigan in August and September.

The men sought retaliation against Ms Whitmer due to her “uncontrolled power” amid the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said.

Seven others linked to a paramilitary group called the Wolverine Watchmen were charged in state court for allegedly seeking to storm the Michigan Capitol and providing material support for terrorist acts by seeking a “civil war”.

Donald Trump, speaking at his own campaign event on Friday afternoon, referenced the kidnap plot. 

“We caught some people doing whatever, we’ll find out whatever that was all about and then she said it was my fault, it was my people that caught them, it was Trump’s fault, always Trump’s fault," said the president.

Governor Whitmer was under consideration as a potential running mate for Joe Biden. 

With reporting from the Associated Press