Mich. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Apologizes After Photo Shows Her In Violation Of State's COVID Rule
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Bill Pugliano/Getty Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer apologized Sunday for a photo that shows her out to dinner with a group of friends, in violation of the state's latest COVID-19 restrictions.
The Detroit News reports that Whitmer, 49, is seen in the photo with 12 other people sitting at two tables pushed together.
The seating arrangement is in violation of a May 15 order by the state's Department of Health and Human Services, which says no more than six people can be seated together and that groups must be separated by at least six feet.
"Throughout the pandemic, I've been committed to following public health protocols," Whitmer said in a statement released on Sunday. "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."
Whitmer continued: "In retrospect, I should have thought about it. I am human. I made a mistake, and I apologize."
The governor received her second vaccination dose last month, according to The Detroit News. But that didn't stop critics from sounding off on her dinner.
The photo, taken on Saturday, was first shared by the Breitbart News Network, a news site that reports with a skewed conservative perspective. The site reported the photo of Whitmer, a Democrat, was shared by a friend online who was with the group dining at Landshark Bar & Grill in East Lansing.
"For @GovWhitmer it's, 'rules for thee, but not for me,' " the state's Republican Party tweeted on Sunday, in response to the photo.
RELATED: Michigan Gov. Responds to Criticism Over Out-of-State Trip to Visit Ailing Dad: 'Maddening'
AP/Shutterstock Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on April 29, 2020
Whitmer has faced fierce criticism from conservatives over her state's COVID-19 restrictions, including calls for her to resign and threats of violence.
Whitmer was the subject of a kidnapping plot thwarted by the FBI last October, in which 13 people were charged.
Whitmer was also the subject of repeated social media attacks by former President Donald Trump, who often pointed to the governor with criticism over economic shutdowns amid the global COVID pandemic.
Trump, 74, and his supporters' calls to "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" in response to Whitmer's shutdown orders last year led to armed protests at the Michigan state Capitol, where police and armed protesters faced off inside the building.
Conservatives have repeatedly accused Whitmer and her family of violating the state's COVID restrictions since the pandemic began last year.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2018
Whitmer was criticized after her husband, Dr. Marc Mallory, traveled across the state and urged a northern Michigan docking company to install his boat in the water during the statewide stay-at-home orders.
Mallory had asked for preferential treatment because he was the governor's wife, prompting further backlash. Whitmer later claimed that her husband was joking.
Then last month, conservatives criticized Whitmer for traveling to Florida for two days to visit her ailing father whom she said has a "chronic illness." The governor called the criticism "maddening" and said she wasn't "out partying in Miami," but rather helping her sick father.
"It was certainly not spring break," Whitmer responded to backlash over her visit. "I was doing both my job as governor from a distance and being that of a daughter who was helping out a parent who needed a little help."
Michigan has had one the nation's strictest COVID-19 restrictions.
The state currently has the third-highest COVID-19 case rate in the country, behind Florida and Texas, with 1,429 new cases per day. According to a New York Times tracker, there have been 985,443 total cases and 20,125 deaths, the eighth-most in the country.
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