Gretchen Whitmer, the Democrat governor of Michigan, has attempted to whitewash her policy that put Covid-19 patients in nursing homes. Whitmer was one of several Democrat governors who implemented this plan, as did Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf and New York’s disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo. The plan led to higher death rates in states that followed this policy, while Whitmer’s Administration has specifically been accused of covering up deaths.
Michigan Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer says nursing homes were not forced to take COVID-19 patients. pic.twitter.com/I77g6PDxNJ
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) November 3, 2022
When asked if she regretted her decision regarding nursing home policy, she blamed her Republican opponent Tudor Dixon for spreading lies. “My opponent continues to tell people that nursing homes were forced to take Covid patients. They were not. They never were,” Whitmer told Fox 2 in Detroit.
Contrary to the governor’s statement, it has been well documented that she had much to do with Covid-19 patients in nursing homes. Even PolitiFact, a left-leaning fact checking site, confirmed as such. According to PolitiFact, “Whitmer issued an executive order on April 15 that required nursing homes with available capacity to create a dedicated unit to isolate residents with COVID-19 and accept COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals.”
PolitiFact’s article also added that certain nursing homes were to be designated as “regional hubs” and made to take in more infected people who were unable to be properly cared for and isolated from others.
Whitmer’s initial executive order came on April 15, 2020. By the time PolitiFact wrote the above article in March 2021, approximately 15,000 people died with Covid in the state of Michigan. Around one-third of those deaths occurred in nursing homes.
Remarkably, Whitmer’s recent interview is not the only time that she has attempted to deny her culpability for the nursing home policy. In June 2020, she cited CDC guidelines as to why her state had enacted this policy.
It was revealed in 2021 that Whitmer used taxpayer funds to incentivize nursing homes to take infected patients. According to Michigan News Source, “Whitmer chose 21 nursing homes to take COVID-19 positive patients, six of which received 2-star ratings and were considered below average. Three ranked much below average with one-star ratings according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Each facility was paid $5,000 upfront for a COVID-19 positive patient and $200 per day per bed after that.”
Whitmer faces a strong challenge from Dixon according to polls. Where Whitmer enjoyed a significant edge as recent as last month, a recent Trafalgar poll has Dixon and Whitmer at a dead heat as Tuesday’s midterms approach.
New @MINewsSource/@trafalgar_group #MIGov #Poll (10/18-21) shows incumbent #Whitmer and #Dixon in a statistical tie #mipol
48.4% @gretchenwhitmer
47.9% @TudorDixon
1.5% @LPMary4Gov
0.4% Other
1.8% UndSee Report: https://t.co/uz3hkDLmfT pic.twitter.com/T7bvXnH5st
— Robert C. Cahaly (@RobertCahaly) October 24, 2022
