DeWine: Midwest governors have strengthened relations during pandemic fight against ‘common enemy’

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said in a joint interview Sunday that the coronavirus pandemic has strengthened communication and relations between state leaders in the Midwest.

“What I have found good about it is I’ve gotten to know Gretchen, Gov. Whitmer. I’ve gotten to know our neighboring governors, and we talk quite a bit,” DeWine said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 

“We have a common enemy. The common enemy is this virus, and we’re battling back against it,” he added, saying, “Certainly, there might be people in my state who disagree with what we have done.”

“This virus does not stop at state line. It does not stop at party line. It is a common enemy, and that is always how we have looked at it,” Whitmer added.

Whitmer noted that while states varied in how they are allocating the first vaccine doses, most governors are prioritizing “who has the most exposure, who is out there in jobs that are coming in contact with the public.”

DeWine added that “there’s been a real consensus among what we call A1 group,” which includes first responders, but he predicted that there was “going to be more lack of consensus among people in general when you get beyond that first group.”

Ohio @GovMikeDeWine says Midwestern governors are in agreement over prioritizing first responders and front line workers in battling #COVID19 and a #vaccine.

Predicts there’s “going to be more lack of consensus among people in general when you get beyond that first group.” pic.twitter.com/bjY6vMVFvw

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 27, 2020

Both DeWine and Whitmer were reportedly the targets of kidnapping plots earlier this year over restrictions they implemented during the pandemic.