Opinion: Democrats should join Trump and put Michigan residents first

America is at war with coronavirus and is in need of unity, not division. Americans and Michigan residents deserve leaders who will rise to the occasion and fight for them. While President Trump has been working tirelessly to defeat this invisible enemy in a bipartisan manner, many Michigan Democrats have failed to do the same.

The Trump administration has taken unprecedented actions to combat coronavirus. By banning all travel to China, followed by Europe, Trump’s decisions significantly slowed the spread of the virus in the U.S.

These travel bans have been lauded by Dr. Anthony Fauci and have been mimicked by other nations. Additionally, the Trump administration has negotiated relief packages such as the CARES Act to smooth economic disturbances caused by the virus, including stimulus to individuals and economic relief to businesses to protect jobs.

The Trump administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to defeat coronavirus, working closely with federal, state, and local governments, as well as partnering with the private sector to expand capabilities.

This includes Michigan’s Ford Motor Company, which committed to manufacturing more than 50,000 ventilators in just 100 days. Detroit Sewn in Pontiac and Eissmann Automotive in Port Huron are making masks for health care professionals. Additionally, the federal government has already sent over 311,000 N-95 masks and 400 ventilators to Michigan from the national stockpile. These partnerships are protecting medical professionals and patients, are receiving bipartisan praise, and are part of the reason Trump’s approval ratings are at an all time high. 

Meanwhile, Michigan Democrats are prioritizing partisanship over delivering results for Michigan.

Sen. Gary Peters chose China’s communist leadership’s authoritarian efforts to combat coronavirus as a model example of “thinking strategically.” Those efforts include deflecting blame, accusing the U.S. Army of spreading the virus to China, and falsifying data regarding the virus. If cozying up to communism wasn’t enough, Peters also fell in line with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi’s partisan games that unnecessarily delayed relief to Michigan residents.

In the House, Haley Stevens hasn’t strayed from her typical unhinged approach to legislating. Instead of calling on Pelosi to stop her hyper-partisanship, Stevens has spent most of the past month getting in fights with Republicans on Twitter, sending and then deleting disturbing attacks against the president, and then losing her composure on the House floor, leading Democrat Leader Steny Hoyer to beg her to yield.

Lest we forget, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has failed Michigan residents every step of the way. Instead of leading, Whitmer and her administration have spread false information regarding medical capacity, which created unnecessary panic, made unsubstantiated claims that the Trump administration was diverting supplies away from Michigan, and failed to request a disaster declaration with FEMA for additional federal resources in a timely fashion. All the while, Whitmer has been spending hours appearing on cable news media, in her audition to be Joe Biden’s VP.

One must question whether these actions demonstrated by Democrats over the past month are being caused by an unprecedented level of incompetence, or malicious partisanship.

Either way, Michigan Democrats have shown that they are simply getting in the way of the health and safety of Michigan residents. Thankfully, Trump continues to prioritize the health and safety of all Americans over politics.

These are unprecedented times where we must seek unity, not division. Michigan residents are desperate for leadership, and they will all be better served if Michigan Democrats put aside their partisanship and ineffectiveness to work with President Trump and Republicans, not against them.

It’s the American spirit to rise to the challenge. By working together, we will come out of this health crisis stronger than before.

Thomas Hicks Jr. is co-chairman of the Republican National Committee.