In the last few days, both former Vice President Joe Biden and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer got in some hot water.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told a black radio host on Friday that “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or [President] Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Whitmer, another Democrat who happens to be on Biden’s short list for veep, dunked in some cooler water, literally, when her husband reportedly called a marina where their boat is stored near their summer home and asked that it be put in the water. When a marina worker said they wouldn’t be able to do so on such short notice, he allegedly said, “I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?” according to the Detroit News.
Both had the same excuse afterward: Just kidding.
Biden on Friday expressed regret for his remarks during a phone conversation with The U.S. Black Chambers Inc., saying, “The bottom line of all of this perhaps I was much too cavalier.”
“I know that the comments have come off like I was taking the African-American vote for granted but nothing could be further from the truth … I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” Biden said.
On Tuesday, Biden elaborated.
“First of all, it was a mistake — No. 1. And I was smiling when he was asking the question. I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy to him. He was being a wise guy, and I responded in kind,” Biden told CNN‘s Dana Bash. “I shouldn’t have done that. It was a mistake.”
Oh, he was just kidding. All good.
Whitmer used the same excuse, but first a little backstory.
On May 18, the governor announced that some state lockdown restrictions would be lifted before Memorial Day weekend, allowing state residents to visit parks and lakes once again. But Whitmer warned: “If you don’t live in these regions … think long and hard before you take a trip into them.”
“A small spike could put the hospital system in dire straits pretty quickly. That’s precisely why we’re asking everyone to continue doing their part. Don’t descend on [waterfront] Traverse City from all regions of the state,” the Democratic governor said.
Three days later, a marina owner wrote a Facebook post that claimed Whitmer’s husband, Marc Mallory, had called to ask if the marina could put their boat into the water before Memorial Day, the Detroit News reported Monday.
No longer visible to the public, Facebook posts from NorthShore Dock LLC and its owner, Tad Dowker, focused on what Dowker said was a request last week by Whitmer’s husband, Marc Mallory. The posts have drawn the attention of Republican state lawmakers, who said the Democratic governor’s family may not be following her guidance for the rest of the state.
In the Facebook post, Dowker wrote: “This morning, I was out working when the office called me, there was a gentleman on hold who wanted his boat in the water before the weekend. Being Memorial weekend and the fact that we started working three weeks late means there is no chance this is going to happen.”
“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?'” wrote Dowker.
Back to Whitmer.
“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,” she said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“Knowing it wouldn’t make a difference, he jokingly asked if being married to me might move them up in the queue. 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. He regrets it. I wish it wouldn’t have happened, and that’s really all we have to say about it,” Whitmer said.
Oh. So Biden was just “being a wise guy” when he declared that all black people should support him simply because of the color of their skin, and Whitmer’s husband simply “made a failed attempt at humor,” they weren’t trying to abuse the power of her political position to jump to the front of the line.
Got it. Hilarious.
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