A GOP chair called Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a 'witch.' She says that's throwing 'gas on this fire.'

• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and two top leaders in Michigan were called "witches" by a GOP leader.
• Whitmer called the comment "dangerous" and saying people need to "bring down the heat."
• She said it was a "sad moment in America" in an interview with CNN.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer responded being called a witch by Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser, calling the comments "dangerous" and saying people need to "bring down the heat."

"It's just really a sad moment in America where people who are leading are treated with such disrespect in this dangerous moment where we've seen threats come to those of use in office and a plot to kidnap and kill me,"she told CNN on Wednesday.

"They're continuing to throw gas on this fire," she continued. "And it is dangerous, it's unacceptable and I've been, for almost a year now, calling on people to bring down the heat."

Weiser had called Whitmer, the state's Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, and state Attorney General Dana Nessel the "three witches" at a political event at the North Oakland Republic Club on Thursday.

He said local republican candidates should make sure "they are ready for the burning at the stake" in future elections.

He later apologized, calling his comment a "flippant analogy."

"In an increasingly vitriolic political environment, we should all do better to treat each other with respect, myself included. I fell short of that the other night," he said. "While I will always fight for the people and policies I believe in, I pledge to be part of a respectful political dialogue going forward."