Michigan governor: Husband's call was just humour

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer acknowledges that her husband dropped her name in an effort to get his boat in the water, but says it simply was a "failed attempt at humor" during a phone call with a recreation business.

"He thought it might get a laugh. It didn't," Whitmer said at a news conference Tuesday in Lansing. "And, to be honest, I wasn't laughing, either, when it was relayed to me, because I knew how it would be perceived."

Whitmer has lifted restrictions on Michigan residents taking road trips, especially traveling to second homes in the woods and waters of northern Michigan. But she doesn't encourage it, saying the coronavirus is highly contagious and could overwhelm small-town hospitals.

At the news conference, Whitmer responded to reports that began with Facebook posts by the business owner who said his staff took a call last week from Whitmer's husband, Marc Mallory.

Whitmer and Mallory own a home in the Elk Rapids area.

The Democratic governor also criticized what she described as extreme reactions to her "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order.

"My family has had men with automatic rifles standing in view of our front window outside of our home. We have read the vile things people have said," Whitmer said, adding that she is "not going to be bullied into ignoring the science and making political calculations."

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.