Of course he does.

What burns my cookies (and may lead to another post) is the way Trump says "I don't endorse violence" and in the next breath adds, "But she's a horrible governor!" Which is in fact endorsing the right-wing violence.

But imagine if it had been an "antifa" plot to kidnap Trump, and Gov. Whitmer had implied it was in any way connected to his policies. Fucks News would be all over her. Hannity would be calling for her impeachment. Trump would be calling for her impeachment. They'd probably call her remarks treason, one of the right wing's new favorite words. (And again, the definition of treason is "levying war against one's own nation," not "making remarks or taking official actions the other party does not approve of." )

EDIT: Wow. I actually channeled Hermant Mehta, who made almost the exact same argument.

Also, Rick.... It's not so much Gov. Whitmer who said there was a right-wing militia plot to kidnap her, but the FBI and the State Police who said there was a right-wing militia plot to kidnap her.

These were not "middle class, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens". Their doctrine is pretty much based around tax avoidance and the idea that the government has no power over them, because they're "sovereign citizens" and entitled to rebel against any laws they don't like. You know- like lockdowns to prevent COVID outbreaks, which is where this all started.