The big picture: Whitmer, who has been a frequent target of President Trump, insisted that she had to act in the face of a lack of federal leadership — and that thousands more people in her state would have died without the lockdown.

“I’m never going to apologize for the fact that because there was a vacuum of leadership at the federal level, we had to take action to save people here in Michigan,” she told Axios’ Alexi McCammond.

“It has not come without a cost. I recognize that. I know a lot of people are stressed about the job they lost or the business that might not open. But there’s also over 5,000 families that are mourning the loss of a loved one. And I’m grateful that it’s not 8,000 or more. “