Whitmer: Michigan Supreme Court, Legislature partly to blame for COVID-19 surge – By Paul Egan (Detroit Free Press) / April 19 2021
LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday the recent surge in coronavirus cases that has made Michigan a national outlier is partly the result of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key law she has used to fight the pandemic.
It was a departure from statements Whitmer made immediately following the October ruling, when she said she mostly retained powers related to public health measures but would require legislative approval for other measures, such as extending unemployment insurance benefits and allowing local governments to hold their public meetings remotely. Also, Whitmer in recent months has eased coronavirus restrictions voluntarily — not in response to court rulings — despite rising case numbers.
“I have been sued by my Legislature, I have lost in a Republican-controlled (Michigan) Supreme Court, and I don’t have all of the exact same tools,” Whitmer said after host Chuck Todd played her clips of previous statements she had made that Todd suggested showed she has changed her tune about following the science to address the pandemic.
On Sunday, Whitmer did say Michigan still has “strong measures to keep people safe,” including a face mask requirement, and is “still doing what we can.” She also cited the success Michigan had early on during the pandemic, when she imposed strict measures on business and other activities, which she said resulted in “vast reservoirs of people who don’t have antibodies,” who are susceptible to highly contagious variants now circulating.
