Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is in hot water after Facebook posts show her husband requesting a dock company put the family boat in the water before Memorial Day.
On Monday, May 18, Whitmer announced she was lifting lockdown restrictions in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula before Memorial Day weekend, but warned residents to not travel for the holiday.
“If you don’t live in these regions… think long and hard before you take a trip into them,” Whitmer said. The dock company her husband contacted is located in Traverse City, but Whitmer lives three hours south in Lansing.
While the rules apply to Michiganders eager to enjoy the long weekend, they clearly don’t apply to Whitmer who broke her own ban to travel from mid-Michigan to northern Michigan.
In a Facebook post no longer visible to the public, Northshore Dock LLC owner Tad Dowker confirmed a request from Whitmer’s husband, Marc Mallory, to put the family’s boat in the water. According to the Detroit News, Dowker explained Mallory’s request could not be accommodated.
“This morning, I was out working when the office called me, there was a gentleman on hold who wanted his boat in the water before the weekend,” Dowker wrote on Facebook. “Being Memorial weekend and the fact that we started working three weeks late means there is no chance this is going to happen.”
The boat company said they were unable to get his boat in the water before Memorial Day weekend. Whitmer’s husband attempted to cut other customers in line by throwing his wife’s name into the mix.
“I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?” Mallory asked.
Whitmer is already under fire for extending the controversial stay-at-home order from May 28 to June 12, giving her state the longest stay-at-home mandate in the country. GOP state lawmakers have filed lawsuits against Whitmer’s draconian shutdowns.
“Not only is Gretchen Whitmer going around the state legislature, but now she is sneaking around the people of Michigan by announcing an extension to her stay at home order after regular business hours on a holiday weekend,” said Laura Cox, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, in a statement. “The only thing she is trying to keep safe is her political career.”
Michiganders created a petition to remove Whitmer from office, while Republican congressmen have rebuked her overly restrictive lockdown orders.
According to the New York Post, Tiffany Brown, a spokeswoman for Whitmer, did not deny the allegations involving Mallory but said the governor’s office would not be responding to “every rumor that is spread online.”
Northshore Dock LLC did not wish to comment.
