The Michigan Democratic Party deleted a tweet pointing out Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) “declined” to issue a statewide school mask mandate.
As coronavirus cases rise, Whitmer has refused to exercise the powers she used months ago, despite repeatedly claiming she is “following the science,” leaving some to speculate she is now following polling and “political science.”
As schools reopen, Whitmer has been pressuring school boards and local health departments to issue their own orders, allowing her to merely issue more politically palatable “recommendations.”
After Oakland and Wayne counties – two of the most populous in the state – issued orders for schools, the Michigan Democratic Party praised the action in a now-deleted tweet:
Michigan Democratic Party has deleted this tweet from yesterday that correctly noted @GovWhitmer has “declined to order mask mandates across the state.”
Whitmer’s team has tried to make mask mandates a local control issue, instead of it being about her control of the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/hM4QvVXd1H
— Chad Livengood (@ChadLivengood) August 28, 2021
“Governor Whitmer declined to order mask mandates across the state,” the party noted.
Reporter Chad Livengood pointed out Whitmer has now attempted to make it a local control issue, shrugging off her past attempts to issue blanket orders statewide.
On Monday, an appeals court ruled Whitmer has the authority to impose a new school mask mandate.
For weeks, Whitmer has told residents her powers to make unilateral decisions were hampered by the Michigan Supreme Court and Republican legislature, effectively attempting to cast blame on her political foes for why she can’t make a decision she has apparently concluded is politically unpopular.
That rhetoric was undermined when the Sixth District U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Resurrection School, which had claimed orders from Whitmer’s Department of Health and Human Services were unconstitutional.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) successfully argued the governor did have the authority, undermining Whitmer’s public complaints.
“As science has proven and now the Sixth Circuit agrees, enacting a mask mandate in the manner in which MDHHS did so does not violate one’s rights—it is a measure by which we can better protect public health,” Nessel said, WILX reported.
Even so, Whitmer has refused to issue a new school mask mandate, instead making “strong recommendations,” according to Michigan Radio, saying there are “no plans to do any broad mandates.”
“We know that districts in large measure wanted the ability to make those decisions at the local level. We’re encouraging them to follow the CDC guidance,” Whitmer said.
In addition to seemingly changing her stance on broad mask mandates, Whitmer, previously, received sharp backlash for violating her own strict coronavirus regulations.
Earlier this year, a photo posted to social media seemingly showed Whitmer with a dozen other people at a bar. Multiple tables were pushed together although the state, at the time, required social distancing at restaurants, including having no more than six people at a table.
Whitmer later apologized for the blatant disregard of her own rules, calling the move “an honest mistake.”
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer” by Michigan Democrats.
