Michigan Governor: Husband’s Request for Boat Was a Joke

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at a news conference in Lansing, Mich., on May 18, 2020. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP, Pool)

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said her husband did ask for special treatment from a worker but claimed the request was a joke.

“My husband made a failed attempt at humor last week when checking in with the small business that helps with our boat and dock up north. Knowing it wouldn’t make a difference, he jokingly asked if being married to me might move him up in the queue,” Whitmer told reporters Tuesday.

“Obviously with the motorized boating prohibition in our early days of COVID-19, he thought it might get a laugh. It didn’t. And to be honest, I wasn’t laughing either when it was relayed to me because I knew how it would be perceived,” she added.

NorthShore Dock LLC owner Tad Dowker said that Whitmer’s husband, Marc Mallory, asked that his boat be placed in the water before Memorial Day.

Mallory and Whitmer own a house about 25 minutes from Traverse City, which is located in northern Michigan.

Dowker wrote on Facebook that the harsh restrictions Whitmer imposed to try to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus cost his company three weeks. When a man called wanting his boat in the water, Dowker said it was impossible.

“Well our office personnel had explained this to the man and he replied, ‘I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?’” Dowker recounted.

A protester throws fake money with President Trump's face on it into the air on the steps of the state Capitol during Operation Haircut in Lansing, Michigan, on May 20, 2020. The protest was part of a national movement against stay-at-home orders. (Elaine Cromie/Getty Images)

According to Whitmer, her husband regrets what he said.

In a statement to news outlets before the governor’s admission, her office declined to address “every rumor that is spread online,” adding: “There’s been a lot of wild misinformation spreading online attacking the governor and her family, and the threats of violence against her personally are downright dangerous.”

The Democrat told reporters later in the press conference that her husband did travel to their second home after she allowed some portions of northern Michigan to reopen.

“So, as you know, a few weeks ago we dropped the travel bans, so that if people had a second residence, it was permitted to go to a second residence,” Whitmer said. “

My husband did go up to our place ... and rake some leaves and came home. So he was there,” she continued.

“We did not all pile in the car to go enjoy our second although that would have been permitted if we had. But the fact of the matter is, he was there, briefly, for a night, one or two nights and came right back home after he raked our leaves.”

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.