A top aide of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took a spring break trip to Florida with family. Only days earlier, the Democratic governor of Michigan warned her constituents about travel because of concerns of spreading COVID-19.
Tricia Foster, Whitmer’s chief operating officer, posted photos on Facebook of her family vacationing in Siesta Key, a popular beach tourist destination on the Gulf of Mexico about an hour south of Tampa.
Photos on Foster’s Facebook page obtained by Breitbart show her teenage daughters and friends enjoying a spring break vacation in the resort town that has far fewer coronavirus restrictions than Michigan’s COVID-19 constraints, which many deem to be excessive and draconian. Foster, her daughters, and their friends are seen maskless and are not practicing social distancing in the social media posts.
NEW: Gov. Whitmer’s top aide Tricia Foster defies governor’s travel warnings, travels to Florida for spring break v… https://t.co/UCtjmAy31j
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911)1618086790.0
“The photos no longer appeared on Foster’s timeline Friday afternoon, but the Free Press spoke to a Facebook friend of Foster who saw the beach photos before they were taken down,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
However, Whitmer issued a travel warning to Michiganians on April 2, especially traveling to Florida.
“Whitmer said she is concerned about spring break and people traveling, with many going between Michigan and Florida,” the Detroit Free Press reported. “If people do travel, she said they should work from home and have school from home for a least a week when they return, assess whether they need a COVID-19 test and get vaccinated.”
“Students and families traveling across Michigan, to other states or out of the country risk being exposed to and carrying COVID-19 with them,” a press release from Whitmer’s office stated. “This, in turn, could fuel outbreaks within their households and the communities where they live or visit.”
Whitmer’s office did not deny that Foster and her family traveled to Florida, but dismissed the report as a “partisan attack from a garbage white nationalist website.”
“Trish Foster is fully recovered from COVID and fully vaccinated,” Whitmer press secretary Bobby Leddy said.
When Leddy was asked whether Foster’s daughters and her daughters’ friends were fully vaccinated, the spokesperson responded, “I don’t have anything additional to add.”
Michigan currently leads the nation in new COVID-19 cases and positive test rates. Infections in the Wolverine state have increased for seven consecutive weeks.
“Officials are reporting more than 7,000 new infections each day, a sevenfold increase from late February,” according to the Baltimore Sun. “And Michigan is home to nine of the 10 metro areas with the country’s highest recent case rates.”
“Policy change alone won’t change the tide,” Whitmer said on Friday. “We need everyone to step up and to take personal responsibility here.”
Following the most recent surge of COVID-19 cases, Whitmer has asked that the public take a two-week break from indoor dining, in-person high school, and youth sports.
In January, Whitmer traveled to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Joe Biden despite discouraging “Michiganders from traveling and attending gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.”
Last June, Whitmer flouted her own executive order mandating social distancing when she attended a George Floyd march and was photographed shoulder-to-shoulder with protesters.
Last May, Whitmer was embroiled in controversy when her husband reportedly attempted to use his influence to persuade a company to prioritize putting their family’s boat in the water before Memorial Day weekend. Whitmer claims that her husband was simply making a joke when he told the company, “I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?” Whitmer had instructed her constituents not to vacation in the area where her family’s boat was docked.
