MICHIGAN Governor Gretchen Whitmer apologized after she was pictured violating state-mandated social distancing guidelines at a bar.
She was part of a gathering that defied her own health department’s pandemic orders.
Why did Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer apologize?
A photo circulated on social media of Gretchen Whitmer with a large group of unmasked people at an East Lansing establishment.
Also pictured in attendance was Whitmer’s chief operations officer, Tricia Foster.
Rules required six people or fewer at tables and distances of six feet between tables.
“Throughout the pandemic, I’ve been committed to following public health protocols,” Whitmer said in a statement released on May 23.
“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. In retrospect, I should have thought about it. I am human. I made a mistake, and I apologize.”
However, one day after the apology was issued, Whitmer’s administration rescinded the rule that limits restaurant tables to no more than six people.
She also signed a revised workplace safety order that immediately no longer requires six feet of separation between tables.
Tori Sachs, the executive director of the non-profit Michigan Freedom Fund, accused the governor of hypocrisy.
“Capacity limits, patrons per table limits, curfews & other ridiculous restrictions need to end immediately,” Sachs said.
“She isn’t even abiding by those rules.
This is not the first time Whitmer has been criticized for apparent missteps during the pandemic.
She took a private jet trip to see her father in Florida in March at a time when Michigan residents were warned against traveling south for spring break.
Whitmer said she cooked and cleaned for her father during the trip because he suffers from a chronic illness.
The governor, who received her second vaccination dose on April 29, is fully vaccinated.
Michigan experienced a surge of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations that peaked in mid-April, but the case rates have been decreasing for five weeks.
