Fifty-seven percent of Michigan residents approve of the way Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has handled the coronavirus pandemic, compared with 44 percent who preferred President Donald Trump’s efforts, according to a new poll done for the Detroit Regional Chamber that was released Monday, reports The Detroit News.
The poll surveyed 600 Michigan residents.
Trump has lashed out at several Democratic governors who are responding to the coronavirus, and in late March said he had a "big problem" with the "young, a woman governor" in Michigan, complaining that "all she does is sit there and blame the federal government."
He also told Vice President Mike Pence, "don't call the woman in Michigan," and later referred to her as "Gretchen 'Half' Whitmer" in a tweet and said she is "way in over her head" and "doesn't have a clue."
Whitmer, 48, won the 2018 governors race by 9.5 percentage points and has emerged as a rising voice within the Democratic Party, delivering the State of the Union response this year. She is widely considered to be on Joe Biden’s list of potential running mates.
Trump last week tweeted “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” in response to Whitmer’s strict stay-at-home orders.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.