Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been mocked after her audio “mysteriously” cut out as she was being questioned during a live interview about her strict COVID-19 lockdown orders.
The Democrat, 51, was grilled during a remote FOX 2 Detroit appearance on Monday on whether she had any regrets about the controversial pandemic measures she put in place.
“I’m sorry,” Whitmer immediately interjected as she appeared to touch her earpiece.
A person who was off-camera with the governor could then be heard saying: “Oh s–t, I think we lost …”
When the host asked Whitmer to continue, the governor stared blankly at the camera and said to the off-camera person: “Did I do that when I touched the ear thing? It started to fall out.”
“Governor, can you hear me? Gov. Whitmer?” one of the hosts asked.
The governor continued to peer at the camera before the studio eventually cut her feed and one of the hosts acknowledged that Whitmer “seems like she’s having some audio problems there.”
The ordeal sparked immediate ridicule from Whitmer’s Republican gubernatorial opponent, Tudor Dixon, who cast doubt on the purported audio gaffe.
“We hope Gretchen Whitmer can get back on air to answer this question about her disastrous COVID policies (or will the equipment mysteriously malfunction again?)” Dixon tweeted alongside a clip of the interview.
Whitmer did not return to the program to answer the question.
The governor was heavily criticized throughout the pandemic after she imposed measures that forced people to stay at home, and schools and most businesses to shutter their doors.
She was hit with multiple lawsuits over the restrictions and faced fierce backlash from Republicans who urged her to reopen the state.
Dixon, her GOP challenger, has made the Democrat’s COVID restrictions the centerpiece of her gubernatorial campaign.
