‘Of course the governor has been telling people to stay home … it also true she’s been urging New Mexicans to find ways to support local businesses…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham violated her own shelter-in-place order to buy jewelry from store that should have been closed under her executive order, according to KRQE News 13.
Grisham ordered all nonessential businesses to close on April 3, praising New Mexico’s residents for the “incredible, personal sacrifices that happen every single day because people have limited their ability to work.”
But as it turns out, Grisham allowed at least one business to open so she could purchase jewelry from it, according to an employee at Lilly Barrack.
The governor ordered the jewelry over the phone a week before Easter. The employee then went to the store, got the jewelry, and placed it outside the door of the store where one of Grisham’s aides could pick it up.
The owner of Lilly Barrack said that she was not aware that Grisham had made this request and that no one was allowed in the stores at that time due to Grisham’s shelter-in-place order.
Grisham, however, claimed through a spokesman that her request was reasonable because she had “a longstanding personal relationship” with the employee.
The employee went to Lilly Barrack, “got the jewelry and took it home, left it outside their home and then someone came and picked it up,” the spokesman explained.
Either way, Grisham’s request forced an employee who should have been at home to leave her house, go to a closed store, and interact remotely with one of Grisham’s aides.
Other jewelry stores in the area said they’ve lost hundreds of thousands in sales because they’ve had to limit their business to online sales only. As far as they knew, delivery or appointment-based sales were not an option. But apparently there was a loophole in Grisham’s order that only she knew how to exploit.
Grisham’s office admitted that this transaction was “unusual,” but defended it anyways.
“Of course the governor has been telling people to stay home to the greatest extent possible, it also true she’s been urging New Mexicans to find ways to support local businesses,” her office said in a statement.