LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer faced criticism over the weekend after a Northern Michigan boat dock owner said he received a call from the governor's husband who dropped her name while asking for his boat to get in the water for Memorial Day weekend.
She addressed the claims during a Tuesday press briefing, saying that her husband's comments were a "failed attempt at humor."
The Detroit News reported that NorthShore Dock owner Tad Dowker posted on social media that his staff took a call from Marc Mallory, the governor's husband. The staff explained that they were backed up and couldn't immediately launch the boat, to which Mallory reportedly replied "'I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?'"
Whitmer said Mallory made that comment, knowing it wouldn't make a difference.
"Obviously, with the motorized boating prohibition in our early days of COVID-19, he thought it might get a laugh. It didn't. And to be honest, I wasn't laughing either when it was relayed to me, because I knew how it would be perceived, he regrets it. I wish it wouldn't have happened. And that's really all we have to say about it," Whitmer said.
Before responding to the criticism, the governor noted that the past couple of months have taken a toll on her family because of "an explosion of rampant rumors and violent death threats."
The governor was also asked if her husband had traveled to their second home in Antrim County. Whitmer recently relaxed some restrictions in Northern Michigan but still cautioned against people traveling there.
Whitmer acknowledged that she recently dropped the travel ban within the state, allowing people to travel to any second homes. She said that her husband did go up to their Antrim County home, but she and her daughters stayed in Lansing.
"My husband did go up to our place in Antrim County and raked some leaves and came home. So he was there. We did not all pile in the car to go enjoy our second home, although that would have been permitted if we had. But the fact of the matter is, he was there, briefly for a night, I think one or two nights and came right back home after," she said.
Watch the full press briefing here:
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