Whitmer's Florida Trip, COVID Rules Focus Of GOP TV Ad Campaign

MICHIGAN — A new Republican television advertisement campaign targeting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will "highlight one of the latest examples of Whitmer's extreme hypocrisy" — her March trip to Florida to visit her chronically ill father, a Republican Governors Association official said Tuesday.

The half-million-dollar ad campaign, which was launched by the RGA affiliate Get Michigan Working Again, also references the governor's stance on nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic, restrictions that left some people without the ability to visit family and friends in certain facilities.

"While Michiganders complied with Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions, the governor has been bar-hopping across Michigan and jet-setting to the Sunshine State," RGA Spokesperson Chris Gustafson said Tuesday. "Whitmer's rampant hypocrisy knows no bounds and leaves Michiganders with no choice but to Fire the Damn Governor."

Whitmer has been scrutinized in recent weeks due to a series of missteps amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In March, the governor took a private flight to Florida to visit her chronically ill father. While she initially said the trip last two days or less, an internal memo released weeks later revealed the trip was twice as long.

How the flight was funded — through a nonprofit group — also has been deemed questionable by some, and has since been the subject of an Internal Revenue Service complaint.

Most recently, Whitmer has been under the microscope after a photo circulated of her sitting with a group of people at a Lansing restaurant without masks and not social distancing.

At the time the photo was taken, an epidemic order issued by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was in place submitting that no more than six people could sit at a table in a restaurant without social distancing. That order was rescinded by the Whitmer administration on Monday.

"Throughout the pandemic, I've been committed to following public health protocols," Whitmer said in a statement on Sunday. "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."

The attention comes ahead of a 2022 Gubernatorial election in Michigan where the Republican party has yet to see a strong front-runner to oppose Whitmer. Conservative commentator Tudor Dixon recently threw her hat in the ring, while other names for potential candidates include Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, businessman John James and retiring Detroit Police Chief James Craig.