Michigan Republican for Governor Tudor Dixon on abortion, guns, COVID policies
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - With less than two weeks before the 2022 Midterm Elections, the race for governor is inching closer to completion as Republican challenger Tudor Dixon looks to take down incumbent Democrat Gretchen Whitmer.
This week, the two women met in their second and final debate. We have also invited both to appear on special editions of Let it Rip, which Dixon agreed to do. We have offered the same opportunity for the Governor.
Dixon's thoughts on Whitmer's COVID policies
During the debate, the two women discussed abortion, the economy, national politics, gun control, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Mostly when I looked back at the debate, people were shocked by the governor's answer and schools. That's something I heard the most from people saying how could she possibly have said that people were only out for three months," Dixon said. "She was lording over the state, had to have her executive powers removed by order from the supreme court. That was a shocking moment for me and I would say parents across the state."
Dixon said the difference between the COVID-19 pandemic and the flu pandemic of 1918 is communication across the nation and around the world.
"We were able to talk to other governors. We saw states like Florida open up, Texas open up, North Carolina had schools go back, Georgia opened up right away and had schools go back and we were seeing the data coming back from those schools saying that kids weren't transmitting it like adults were and that it was better to have in-person learning," Dixon said.
She said European leaders said that it was too hard for kids to learn reading and math via virtual learning and that governor's who reopened schools earlier weren't taking a risk.
"In the state of Michigan, there were several months where you could have said 'well this state's been back for this long, this state's been back for this long,' at a certain point it wasn't a risk. In 2022, at the beginning of this year, we saw Detroit shut down, we saw Flint shut down, we saw Ann Arbor shut down and parents were saying where does the governor stand on this and she was completely silent about those schools being shut down," Dixon said.
It should be noted that the decision to shut down schools was left to individual districts and Detroit, Flint, and Ann Arbor schools all returned to virtual learning briefly in the winter of 2022 at their own decisions.
Dixon on abortion commercial: Whitmer's team wants to ‘scare people’
On the topic of abortion, Dixon said her words about a hypothetical 14-year-old rape victim are being taken out of context by Whitmer's team.
"I want to clarify. I was sharing a story from someone else. This is another one of the deceptions we see from Whitmer's team, they cut audio and make it sound like I say something and they put it on a commercial to scare people," Dixon said.
Ultimately, abortion is up to voters on November 8 on proposal 3.
Dixon said the governor won't address that and says Whitmer refuses to address some of the language in the proposal
"I would love to see those protections that we've always had stay in place. To make sure that if a minor is trying to get an abortion, that their parents have to be notified. To make sure that if somebody is going to perform an abortion, that they have a medical degree. This is something the governor won't address. She won't address that proposal 3 would mean those things don't exist any longer," Dixon said.
The proposal on the ballot does not say anything about those issues - which you can read here.
Tudor Dixon, Republican for governor in Michigan, appears on a special Let it Rip on FOX 2.
Whitmer: Dixon believes ‘books are more dangerous than guns’
As they discussed on Tuesday, the topic of gun control came up as Dixon has been accused by Whitmer of not even knowing what safe storage laws are.
"I want to make sure that children are safe by looking at what we are doing in schools. I've been very clear about this. I want to look at the 2018 state police report for safe schools. The state police - those are our experts on safety (and) she totally ignored this report," Dixon said.
The report detailed recommended ways to keep schools safe that included armed guards, one point of entry, and red flags laws, among other advice from the Michigan State Police.
Dixon said criminals will get weapons and we have to "make sure we are prepared to protect our students at any cost."
One of the biggest moments of Tuesday night was when Whitmer said that Dixon believes "books are more dangerous than guns." Dixon, however, said that comment was 'flippant' and dismissive of many voters in Michigan who believe that there are dangerous books in some libraries.
"Why do we have to choose whether or not we're going to protect our kids from thing or the other? I want to protect our kids from every danger out there. I thought that was a very flippant answer. She doesn't want to address the fact that we have books in our schools that are dangerous, they are harmful to our children, they are pornographic material teaching things to our children that are well beyond what is age-appropriate," Dixon said.
During our special Let it Rip, Dixon fielded many viewer questions as well, including:
What programs she would cut if she eliminates the state income tax?
Who is responsible for the mental and emotional health of students when an event such as the Oxford shooting or other traumas occur?
What are her plans for Line 5 pipeline?
What will the government do to improve/bolster the state's electrical infrastructure now that the government is forcing automakers to go electric?
She answers those questions Thursday on Let it Rip.