Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just admitted that her pandemic lockdowns didn’t make “a lot of sense.”
During an interview on CNN, Whitmer told host Chris Wallace that, looking back, some of the restrictions she implemented during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic were unnecessary.
Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has mastered the aw-shucks authoritarianism shtick as she begrudgingly admits that restricting seed sales during her lockdown "maybe was a little more than we needed to do."
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 13, 2023
🤡pic.twitter.com/RpEbquJg5k
“We had to make some decisions that in retrospect don’t make a lot of sense, right? You could go to the hardware store, but we didn’t want people, you know, all congregating around the gardening supplies… It was February in Michigan, no one was planting anyway. But that being said, some of those policies I look back on and think that was maybe a little more than we needed to do,” Whitmer said.
Following her interview, critics slammed the Democratic governor for “gaslighting” Michigan residents during the lockdown.
“This is SO insane on SO many levels, but the sickest part is that she is SO flippant & actually fighting back a big smile while remembering how she (now admittedly) needlessly caused aggravation & suffering for her people in Michigan. This woman appears to be evil in this video,” said filmmaker John Ziegler.
State officials also blasted Whitmer for banning seed sales and lying about the timeline of the ban, which spanned into April 2020.
“Gretchen Whitmer is backpedaling as she plots her political future,” said Tudor Dixon, Whitmer’s Republican opponent in the 2022 midterm elections.
“She once again attempts to gaslight the people of Michigan into thinking she bears no responsibility for the tyrannical, confusing and cruel lockdown policies she put in place. Her heavy-handed decisions crushed businesses, student achievement and livelihoods in our state and none of her lies can hide these horrible but true facts,” Dixon continued.
“The gaslighting here is simply breathtaking. The orders (multiple) were in late March/early April (NOT February) and were so unclear that some stores put caution tape around entire aisles to not risk noncompliance. A bit of humility would be nice,” wrote Peter Meijer, former GOP congressman from Michigan
Whitmer is among the rumored candidates for the 2024 presidential election, but she has not yet made any announcements.
