Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) responded to the Democratic debate in Flint, Mich., Sunday night by tweeting about his commitment to solving the water crisis affecting the city.
“In a few days, political candidates will be leaving Flint and Michigan,” he tweeted.
{mosads}“They will not be staying to help solve the crisis, but I am committed to the people of Flint. I will fix this crisis and help Flint move forward.”
Both Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, said Sunday that Snyder should resign — or be recalled by voters — over his handling of the Flint crisis, in which lead levels in the drinking water have spiked.
“There’s a lot of blame to go around, and one of the points that I have made is that I believe the governor of this state should understand that his dereliction of duty was irresponsible. He should resign,” Sanders said.
“I agree, the governor should resign, or be recalled,” Clinton said. “I support the efforts of citizens attempting to achieve that. But, that is not enough. We have to focus on what must be done to help the people of Flint.”
The crisis came about after the state pushed the city off the Detroit municipal drinking water supply and toward a cheaper source, the Flint River. Opponents of the governor note that members of his administration knew about the threat to the drinking water supply before the public was warned and even had internal discussions about what, if anything, to do about the problem.
Snyder and others have blamed the crisis on a breakdown of government oversight at all levels — the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also knew about the threat to the drinking water early, an issue Clinton and Sanders hit on Sunday. Both Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy will testify on the matter before the House Oversight Committee next week.
On Sunday night, Snyder said he was best positioned to help solve the problems there.
“Long-term solutions are what the people of Flint need and what I am focused on delivering for them,” he tweeted.