Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) stretched the truth to a national audience on CNN recently when she attempted to downplay her Covid lockdown gardening ban.

“We didn’t want people, you know, all congregating around the gardening supplies,” the wannabe presidential candidate claimed. “People said, ‘Oh, she’s outlawed seeds.’ It was February in Michigan, no one was planting anyway,” Whitmer added dismissively.

MICHIGAN GOV. WHITMER ON COVID LOCKDOWNS: "We had to make some decisions that in retrospect don't make a lot of sense, right? […] We didn't want people, you know, all congregating around the gardening supplies. […] It was February in Michigan, no one was planting anyway…" pic.twitter.com/WyOOAXsegZ

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 13, 2023

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

On April 16, 2020, Forbes reported:

Last week, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all stores larger than 50,000-square feet to cordon off their garden centers and plant nurseries, blocking customers from shopping in those sections through April 30. “If you’re not buying food or medicine or other essential items, you should not be going to the store,” Whitmer said when announcing her order.  

The shutdown follows an executive order from last month that’s been widely interpreted by many in the industry as banning greenhouses, independent garden centers, and plant nurseries from selling to the public, as part of a larger crackdown on activities deemed “not necessary to sustain or protect life.” (Curiously, the state’s list of “not necessary” items doesn’t include lottery tickets and liquor, which stores can continue to sell.)  

At an April 13 press conference, Whitmer said she sought to clear up “confusion” over her myriad of inconsistent orders.

Residents were “just trying to figure out why you can buy a lottery ticket and not seeds,” Whitmer claimed.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“I recognize that there a lot of passionate gardeners in Michigan and I’ve heard from a lot of you,” she added. “Right now, my immediate concern is to try and keep everyone in Michigan safe.”

Whitmer’s first coronavirus-related executive order was issued March 23.

It’s not the first time Whitmer has been dismissive when challenged on her heavy-handed lockdown policies.

During the second debate with Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, Whitmer claimed her school lockouts were “three months.”

A fact-check noted, “While individual school districts decided whether to send kids back in the fall of the 2020-21 school year, Whitmer did not encourage schools to return to in-person learning until January 2021.” Some students were out of the classroom as long as a year-and-a-half, and Whitmer never forced them back, yielding to the demands of school union bosses.

When Whitmer banned haircuts, she proposed residents “google how to do a haircut,” riling hairstylists, whom she requires obtain 1,500 of training to be licensed.