Whitmer Blames Public, Refuses Any Responsibility, as Michigan COVID-19 Cases Continue to Surge
Whitmer Also Defended Health Director’s Vacation To Alabama As Michigan Leads Nation in COVID-19 Cases
LANSING, MICH—Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s press conference Wednesday was empty on substance and heavy on partisan attacks and scapegoating the people of Michigan.
“Gov. Whitmer is refusing to re-examine any of her own policies, choosing instead to blame Michiganders for rising COVID-19 numbers,” said Ted Goodman, Communications Director of the Michigan Republican Party. “Instead of offering actual science and data to defend their past and future policy decisions, Gov. Whitmer deflected responsibility, went on the attack, and blamed Michiganders.”
Whitmer refused to even re-examine any of her policies over the past 13 months, instead blaming Michiganders. She also defended vacations by top health aides to Florida and Alabama.
“I’m not going to get distracted by partisan hit jobs on my team,” Whitmer said when asked to explain why Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director, Elizabeth Hertel chose to vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama last week at a time when Michigan leads the nation in new COVID-19 cases.
“What directors do on thier personal time is their business,” Whitmer said. “So long as they are safe.”
BACKGROUND
Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director, Elizabeth Hertel, who was recently appointed to the position following the controversial exit of Robert Gordon, traveled to Gulf Shores, Alabama with her immediate family, according to MIRS News.
News of Hertel’s vacation comes just days after another top Whitmer aid, responsible for the state’s vaccine distribution, vacationed to Florida last week. Tricia Foster not only made the trip to Florida and posted about it on Facebook, but she inadvertently revealed that a family member contracted COVID-19 yet she still got an airplane with family and friends, putting other people at risk.
Important to note is that before traveling south to Alabama and Florida for a relaxing getaway under the sun, Hertel and Foster forgot to request 360,000 vaccinations available from the federal government for the state of Michigan.
The Washington Post revealed that the Whitmer administration failed to request 360,000 vaccinations available to the state, something the Biden Administration brought to Whitmer’s attention.
Hertel and Foster have remained silent on revelations of the vacations, indicating the intention to keep it a secret. It is completely unacceptable, and the people of Michigan deserve answers. How did the vacation travel of top staffers impact the Whitmer Administration’s failure to secure over 360,000 vaccines that were originally meant for the state?