Michigan‘s Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was forced to apologize after she was caught violating one of her own coronavirus orders.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) hit the bar this weekend and violated her own coronavirus orders, according to a photo Breitbart News has exclusively obtained. https://t.co/7udfIRYfBn
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 23, 2021
Earlier this month, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services issued an order forbidding groups of more than six people to be seated together at a restaurant and requiring all parties to be separated by six feet. This weekend, however, a picture surfaced of Whitmer and a group of friends disregarding that rule.
Whitmer was spotted at the Landshark Bar & Grill in East Lansing, and a picture of the group shows a large group of people with tables pushed together and no masks being worn.
Whitmer’s chief operating officer, Tricia Foster, who was also caught violating the state’s traveling restrictions last month, was also at the event.
“Throughout the pandemic, I’ve been committed to following public health protocols,” Whitmer said Sunday in a statement. “Yesterday, I went with friends to a local restaurant. As more people arrived, the tables were pushed together. Because we were all vaccinated, we didn’t stop to think about it.”
Despite the frequent criticism of her administration’s lock-down hypocrisy, Whitmer said it was an innocent oversight.
“In retrospect, I should have thought about it. I am human,” she added. “I made a mistake, and I apologize.”
Ted Goodman, spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party, said this is yet another example of Whitmer and her staff violating the state’s coronavirus restrictions while expecting everyone else to follow them.
“For Gov. Whitmer, it’s rules for thee but not for me,” he said.
Foster is one of two Whitmer officials who traveled out of state for vacation this year despite state guidance advising Michiganders against leaving the state.
Whitmer also traveled out of state in violation of this guidance, taking a private jet to Florida to allegedly visit her sick father.
Whitmer’s trip to Florida has since become the subject of an Internal Revenue Service complaint, which says she may have illegally used a nonprofit to fund a personal flight.
“The Governor’s personal trip to visit her family in Florida is not within the exempt purpose of Michigan Transition 2019, and the organization’s payment for the Governor’s chartered flight was a private benefit to Governor Whitmer,” the complaint states.
