Petition to recall Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is gaining momentum

A petition to remove Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is gaining traction — and has garnered more than 165,000 signatures as of Monday.

Last week, Whitmer placed what some voters insisted was a draconian and Orwellian statewide ban on visiting other residences because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are the details?

A portion of the Change.org petition reads, "Her failure's [sic] during the Covid-19 Corona Virus is causing more Michiganders to get sick. Closing and banning various non essential business's [sic] and activities while leaving others open. Further promoting the pandemic. She has lied since day one with her #Fixthedamnroads which she has failed to do anything in this regards. The response to #PFAS was negligence and completely removing funding for #PureMichigan clearly shows her lack of anything positive for the State of Michigan."

According to WWJ-AM, however, a petition to recall the governor would "require language approved by the state board of canvassers for circulation," as well as "signatures of well over 700,000 registered Michigan voters" in order to take the issue of recall to the actual ballot.

During last week's coronavirus briefing, Whitmer said that she would take any precautions necessary to tamp down the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

"Michigan has the third highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, and we're still on the upswing," Whitmer said during the briefing. "We must continue to do everything we can to slow the spread and protect our families. Data shows that most Michiganders are doing their part by staying home and staying safe. That's good, but we must keep it up."

According to Johns Hopkins University research, there have been at least 24,244 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the state of Michigan. At least 1,479 people in the state have died because of the deadly virus.