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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has faced backlash after being photographed among a group of people inside a restaurant, an incident that recalls similar episodes involving California Governor Gavin Newsom.
A photograph reportedly posted online by a friend of Whitmer's and obtained by conservative outlet Breitbart shows the governor posing with 12 people at a restaurant in East Lansing this weekend. In the photo, the group can be seen sitting around several tables pushed together, in apparent contravention of the governor's own order on gatherings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The order issued on May 15 allows a maximum of six diners to be seated together at restaurants and requires groups to be separated by at least six feet. Whitmer apologized in a statement on Sunday.
"Throughout the pandemic, I've been committed to following public health protocols," she said. "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."
Whitmer's restaurant scandal comes as federal officials investigate a charter flight the governor has taken in March to spend a weekend with her sick father in Florida. The controversial trip took place as Michigan residents were cautioned against out-of-state travel.
The Democratic governor's statewide COVID-19 restrictions have prompted significant backlash. In October 2020, the FBI announced 13 men were arrested in connection to a foiled plot to kidnap Whitmer.
Newsom has also faced criticism for apparently bending pandemic-era rules inside restaurants. In March, the California governor himself exposed what some considered to be a blunder by posting it on TikTok.
In a video with actor George Lopez, Newsom shared information on COVID-19 vaccine eligibility. Lopez, seated inside a restaurant wearing a face mask, asks: "How do I find out if I can get a vaccination?"
Newsom, also masked, then appears through a reflection in a mirror behind Lopez. "You got to go to myturn.ca.gov," he answers, referring to a website that helps Californians determine their eligibility for inoculation.
Lopez exclaims: "Wait a minute! Thank you, governor!"
"Wonderful to be of service, George," Newsom responds.
The video was filmed inside Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant in Fresno, California. At the time, restaurants in Fresno County did not allow indoor dining, as the area experienced "widespread" COVID-19 infections with a positivity rate of more than 8 percent.
A spokesperson for Newsom said the governor did not dine in the restaurant and instead met with the owners, who had been the recipients of a relief grant. The video with Lopez is still up on the governor's TikTok profile.
The video's comments saw TikTok users demanding to recall Newsom, a campaign that was bolstered by the governor's previous restaurant blunder.
In November 2020, Newsom and his wife attended a birthday dinner with at least a dozen people from multiple households at The French Laundry restaurant in Napa County. At the time, California experienced a surge in coronavirus cases and gatherings of more than three households were prohibited in the state.
The Democratic governor later said he should have left the dinner as soon as he had realized the group was bigger than he had expected.
"You can quibble about the guidelines, et cetera, et cetera, but the spirit of what I'm preaching all the time was contradicted and I got to own that," he said at the time. "And so I want to apologize to you, because I need to preach and practice, not just preach and not practice, and I've done my best to do that."
"We're all human. We all fall short sometimes."
Newsom is expected to face a recall election this fall, as California's state secretary confirmed earlier in May the recall campaign had collected over 1.7 million valid signatures, over the 1.495 million verified signatures needed.
While the recall petition was launched in February 2020—before the coronavirus pandemic hit the state of California—the campaign's website lists among numerous other reasons, several multiple pandemic-related grievances. One reads: "Rules for Thee, but Not for He = French Laundry Indoor Dining, No Mask, 22 guests"
