Ohio governor on impeachment articles filed against him: ‘We have to do whatever we can to slow this virus down’

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) responded Tuesday to articles of impeachment four Republican state lawmakers have filed against him over the state’s coronavirus restrictions.

“It is four members of the general assembly. … I guess they have a right to go and file anything they want to, but we are going to stay focused on what we have to do,” he said in an interview with “CBS This Morning” Tuesday.

“People who want to criticize measures like wearing masks and basic things we know, absolutely know, work, they should go talk to those front-line health people because I think when they listen to them it is pretty clear we have to do whatever we can to slow this virus down,” he added.

In the same interview, DeWine warned the state did not have the money for distribution of a coronavirus vaccine, but said state officials would “get it out one way or the other.”

“We have the ability to do that. We would like, of course, is a bill from Congress,” he added. “I’m still hopeful that Democrats and Republicans and the President can all get together and get a bill passed because we really need that. … Our local governments need money, our schools need money.”

A #coronavirus vaccine could be just weeks away and the Trump administration says it’s up to governors to decide who gets it first.

Only on @CBSThisMorning, @GovMikeDeWine joins us to talk about plans to rollout a vaccine, as hospitalizations in his state soar to a new record. pic.twitter.com/cWqQPN6JpB

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) December 1, 2020

DeWine has come under fire from several members of his own party for coronavirus-related lockdown measures.

State Reps. John Becker, Nino Vitale, Candice Keller and Paul Zeltwanger filed 12 articles of impeachment against him yesterday, accusing him of “mismanagement, malfeasance, misfeasance, abuse of power, and other crimes include, but are not limited to, meddling in the conduct of a presidential primary election, arbitrarily closing and placing curfews on certain businesses, while allowing other businesses to remain open.”

Militia members accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) due to her lockdown measures also reportedly considered abducting DeWine.