{"id":1251511,"date":"2022-01-28T16:23:06","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T21:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1251511"},"modified":"2022-01-28T16:23:09","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T21:23:09","slug":"michigan-gop-launches-ad-campaign-blasting-whitmer-over-coronavirus-a-lot-of-michiganders-died-in-nursing-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-gop-launches-ad-campaign-blasting-whitmer-over-coronavirus-a-lot-of-michiganders-died-in-nursing-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan GOP Launches Ad Campaign Blasting Whitmer over Coronavirus: \u2018A Lot of Michiganders Died in Nursing Homes\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmichigan-gop-launches-ad-campaign-blasting-whitmer-over-coronavirus-a-lot-of-michiganders-died-in-nursing-homes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1251511&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/AP_20150774975765-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The Michigan Republican Party released an ad this week discouraging Michiganders from reelecting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) after a recent audit report revealed the Whitmer administration had severely underreported the number of nursing home residents who had died from coronavirus.<\/p>\n<p>The state GOP&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/michigan-gop-urges-voters-to-retire-whitmer-in-ad-blitz-taking-aim-at-democratic-governor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>&nbsp;the ad marks the earliest digital or broadcast ad purchase that the organization has ever made to target an incumbent, according to Fox News, which first reported on the ad\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMichigan can\u2019t afford 4 more years,\u201d reads a caption at the opening of the minute-long video rebuke, as it features Whitmer speaking about her coronavirus policies saving \u201ca lot of lives in our nursing homes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Watch:<\/strong><\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Whitmer drew significant blowback for her management of nursing home policies in the midst of the pandemic after she directed the facilities, which housed vulnerable seniors, to accept discharged coronavirus-positive hospital patients. The policy was similar to that of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), whose administration was later caught in a scandal in which it knowingly concealed nursing home death data.<\/p>\n<p>In the highly anticipated audit report, made public this month, the Michigan Auditor General Office&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/audgen.michigan.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Rep.-Johnson-LTC-COVID-19-Auditor-General-Letter-01-12-2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a>&nbsp;it \u201cupdated its reconciliation\u201d of coronavirus deaths linked to nursing homes, or \u201clong-term care facilities,\u201d and found the number of deaths as of July 2, 2021, was 42 percent higher than what the Whitmer administration had reported. The audit specified a total of 8,061 deaths compared with the previous count of 5,675, which had been tabulated using the state\u2019s&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/coronavirus\/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173-526911--,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">self-reporting<\/a>&nbsp;method.<\/p>\n<p>Whitmer has vigorously defended her nursing home policy,&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/TRANSCRIPTS\/2103\/07\/sotu.01.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">claiming<\/a>&nbsp;in a CNN interview last year that it \u201csaved a lot of lives\u201d and that she followed \u201cfederal requirements every step of the way.\u201d In anticipation of the audit\u2019s public release, Whitmer\u2019s Department of Health and Human Services disputed its findings, preemptively&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2022\/01\/12\/audit-reveal-more-covid-deaths-michigans-long-term-care-facilities\/9191630002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">arguing<\/a>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<em>Detroit News<\/em>&nbsp;that \u201calmost half\u201d of the audit\u2019s new deaths came from facilities \u201cnot subject to state reporting requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amid the audit causing heightened criticism of Whitmer, Auditor General Doug Ringler also&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2022\/01\/20\/michgan-auditor-general-unfair-call-nursing-home-count-under-report\/6591578001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clarified<\/a>&nbsp;that he did not feel \u201cunderreport\u201d was a \u201cfair\u201d term to use against the administration because his office had accounted for certain facilities that Whitmer\u2019s administration had not included in its tracking process. He said the discrepancy amounted to a \u201cdifference\u201d in reporting rather than an intentional \u201cunderreporting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new data compounded the already-existing disapproval, primarily from Republicans, over Whitmer\u2019s nursing home policy. State Sen. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawson) has&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bridgemi.com\/michigan-health-watch\/tense-hearing-whitmer-official-defends-mi-covid-nursing-home-strategy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">described<\/a>&nbsp;the policy as \u201cinexplicable\u201d and \u201creckless,\u201d while one Republican group, Michigan Rising Action,&nbsp;<a title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/08\/12\/cuomos-downfall-foreshadows-potential-looming-problems-democrat-governors-nationwide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">called<\/a>&nbsp;Whitmer \u201cCuomo of the Midwest\u201d because of it.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Michigan-based journalist Charlie LeDuff, who has determinedly been&nbsp;<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deadlinedetroit.com\/articles\/29726\/commentary_michigan_knew_its_nursing_home_death_toll_was_wrong\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reporting<\/a>&nbsp;on the nursing home developments, posted a side-by-side photo of Whitmer and Cuomo upon learning of the audit findings.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING \u2014 Covid Deaths in Michigan&#8217;s long-term care facilities are 42% higher than the Whitmer Administration admited, according prelim. report by state Auditor General. <br \/>This puts Whitmer&#8217;s Michigan on par with Cuomo&#8217;s New York in terms of blurring the truth about LTCFs. <br \/>MTC <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TA1znexiQH\">pic.twitter.com\/TA1znexiQH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Charlie LeDuff (@Charlieleduff) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Charlieleduff\/status\/1481432568545394694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Michigan GOP Communications Director Gustavo Portela wrote of the audit, \u201cMichigan\u2019s Andrew Cuomo \u2014 @gretchenwhitmer \u2014 should be held accountable for this.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Michigan\u2019s Andrew Cuomo \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gretchenwhitmer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@gretchenwhitmer<\/a> \u2014 should be held accountable for this. Why isn\u2019t Dana Nessel investigating this? Why is she covering for the Whitmer administration? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/01hJEFeZlH\">https:\/\/t.co\/01hJEFeZlH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Gustavo Portela (@gusportela) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gusportela\/status\/1482130560139108352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 14, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Michigan GOP\u2019s latest ad campaign also touches on the topics of Whitmer violating her own coronavirus orders, the city of Benton\u2019s lead water crisis, and Michigan\u2019s unemployment rate.<\/p>\n<p>The state party said, according to Fox News\u2019s report, that it was spending five figures this week promoting the video ad online but that it would increase its spending to six figures in the coming weeks for both TV and digital advertising.<\/p>\n<p><em>Write to Ashley Oliver at <a href=\"mailto:aoliver@breitbart.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aoliver@breitbart.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/asholiver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@asholiver.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Michigan Republican Party released an ad this week discouraging Michiganders from reelecting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) after a recent audit report revealed the Whitmer administration had severely underreported the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1251511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1251511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1251511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1251511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1251511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}