The governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, has apologized after she was caught on camera with a dozen other people who pushed tables together at a bar in East Lansing, thereby violating the state’s Covid-19 restrictions.
It is the latest in a slew of controversies that have affected Whitmer during the coronavirus pandemic, as critics watch for behavior at odds with policies and public messaging.
“Yesterday, I went with friends to a local restaurant,” Whitmer said in a statement on Sunday. “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.”
After devastating Covid-19 surges in Michigan over the winter and this spring, daily cases are finally dropping, though the state remains a center for new infections by population.
Whitmer received a second vaccine dose in late April and is fully vaccinated. But with well under half of the state’s residents similarly protected, Michigan only allows up to six diners to sit together for food service, separate from any other groups.
News of Whitmer’s rule violation broke after a fellow diner posted a photo from the LandShark Bar and Grill on social media. The image was deleted.
“Whitmer continues to defy her own orders while everyone else is supposed to obey. Enough is enough. End all Covid restrictions today,” tweeted Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Freedom Fund, a rightwing group.
The state is due to fully reopen by July.
Whitmer’s approval ratings have slipped amid a crisis during which she faced armed protests and almost became the victim of a rightwing kidnapping plot.
More recently, she sparked backlash after footing only $855 of a $27,521 bill for flying on a private plane to visit her father, who has a chronic illness. The rest of the cost of the March trip was paid by a non-profit fund.
