Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is apologizing after a photo surfaced of her apparently violating social distancing guidelines at a bar.
The photo shows Whitmer sitting at a table in an East Lansing bar with about a dozen other people, seemingly violating her own social distancing rules requiring six people or fewer at tables and distances of six feet between tables.
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
She later apologized in a statement, saying, “Throughout the pandemic, I’ve been committed to following public health protocols.”
Whitmer added, “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.”
REACTION: After a photo surfaced of @GovWhitmer at a table in an East Lansing bar with a dozen other people, seemingly against her own COVID orders, her press secretary released this statement from Whitmer:@9and10News pic.twitter.com/fePStJvfK8
— Eric Lloyd (@EricLloyd) May 23, 2021
The governor previously received criticism for traveling amid reports of her urging “people returning from Florida to work from home and have their kids learn virtually for at least a week.”
Whitmer’s spokeswoman, Tiffany Brown, claimed she would not provide details surrounding the date or state she traveled to because of “ongoing security concerns.”
“The governor did not go on spring break, and she has not left the state in over a month,” Brown said in a previous statement, adding, “In the past six months she has left the state three times, once for the inauguration, once to assist her elderly father who is battling a chronic illness, and once to visit with Michigan’s National Guard troops.”
Brown explained the trips “were very brief, two full days or less, closely followed public health guidelines, and were made when Michigan’s daily positivity rate was in the low single digits.”
She continued, “Due to ongoing security concerns, we will not comment further on the governor’s personal schedule.”
Federal officials announced they are investigating a potential regulation violation that took place during Whitmer’s trip to Florida in March to visit her father.
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, her trip did not follow the travel guidelines issued on Feb. 22.
