Michigan was home to early COVID-19 skirmishes over the proper extent and scope of masking, distancing, and public safety measures.

Now, with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Republicans’ sights for defeat in 2022, they’re accusing the Democratic chief executive of underplaying the coronavirus threat. That’s a significant reversal from February and March 2020, when Whitmer, in office for just over a year, imposed some of the earliest and most aggressive rules requiring mask-wearing in public, along with other restrictions.