{"id":478526,"date":"2021-05-06T14:20:39","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T18:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=478526"},"modified":"2021-05-06T14:20:42","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T18:20:42","slug":"report-gretchen-whitmer-used-private-jet-borrowed-from-billionaires-to-travel-to-florida-during-covid-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-gretchen-whitmer-used-private-jet-borrowed-from-billionaires-to-travel-to-florida-during-covid-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Gretchen Whitmer Used Private Jet Borrowed From Billionaires To Travel To Florida During COVID Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/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%2Freport-gretchen-whitmer-used-private-jet-borrowed-from-billionaires-to-travel-to-florida-during-covid-crisis%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=478526&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\/2021\/05\/Gretchen-Whitmer-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Michigan\u2019s Democrat governor, Gretchen Whitmer, reportedly asked a group of wealthy Detroit businessmen to borrow a private jet so that she could travel to Florida in March, just as Florida was struggling with a COVID-19 variant that Whitmer would later warn her own residents about.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deadlinedetroit.com\/articles\/27939\/leduff_whitmer_mooches_billionaires_plane_as_father_makes_miraculous_recovery\">Detroit journalist Charlie LeDuff revealed<\/a> Thursday on Deadline Detroit that Whitmer asked \u201cbusinessmen have major dealings in and with the state of Michigan\u201d for what appears to be a political favor, calling on the group to provide her a \u201cprivate plane they share\u201d so that she did not have to fly commercial.<\/p>\n<p>One of the businessmen told LeDuff that the group felt obligated to do as the governor asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wondered why she reached out to us instead of booking a private charter,\u201d the source told LeDuff. \u201cYou can\u2019t tell a governor no. Who needs that kind of trouble?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said she was going to see her sick daddy, but that\u2019s not a legitimate political expenditure,\u201d an expert told LeDuff about the transaction. \u201cWhat it is, is a political favor. She asked. She got on their plane. Now she owes them one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad Whitmer booked a round trip flight from Lansing to West Palm Beach through a private charter company, it would likely have cost $10,000 to $20,000, or a whopping $40,000 for the actual jet she took, according to private jet websites. The latter is more than 25 percent of the governor\u2019s salary \u2014 before taxes,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deadlinedetroit.com\/articles\/27939\/leduff_whitmer_mooches_billionaires_plane_as_father_makes_miraculous_recovery\">Deadline Detroit reported<\/a>. \u201cIt is unclear whether Whitmer reimbursed the company \u2013 Air Eagle \u2013 which manages the aircraft owned by the businessmen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whitmer\u2019s office told media after news of her jaunt to Florida broke last month that she did not spend taxpayer money on the trip, though they did admit that Whitmer spent several days in Florida, allegedly to care for her ailing father.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the governor initially said she spent just two days in Florida. LeDuff reported that records show she spent four days: March 12 through the 15th.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe flew on the businessmen\u2019s Gulfstream G-280 twin jet. It was cold and clear on the morning of March 12 when she lifted off from Lansing and it was warm and sunny when she touched down in West Palm Beach at 9:37 a.m., federal flight records show,\u201d Deadline Detroit noted. \u201cShe left West Palm Beach on Monday, March 15 at 4:37 p.m. She touched down at 7:01 p.m in Lansing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks after returning from Florida, Whitmer warned Michigan residents to cancel any planned trips to the Sunshine State, citing evidence that a deadly COVID-19 variant was raging across Florida. In fact, Florida appears to have already been struggling with the variant at the time of Whitmer\u2019s trip. Local news affiliates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.local10.com\/news\/local\/2021\/03\/15\/florida-reports-2826-new-covid-19-cases-monday-93-resident-deaths\/\">reported that, on March 15<\/a>, the state had 750 known variant cases. On March 12th, the day Whitmer reportedly left Michigan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winknews.com\/2021\/03\/12\/covid-19-variants-taking-over-in-florida\/\">WINK noted that the dangerous COVID-19 variant<\/a> was \u201ctaking over in Florida,\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cResearch finds the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant is more transmissible and deadly. Florida has more cases than anywhere else in the country, with 690,\u201d the outlet reported on March 12.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about LeDuff\u2019s report Thursday, Whitmer said little beyond what she said when news of the trip broke initially \u2014 that she does not reveal the details of her travel out of concern for her own security.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve said everything I\u2019m going to say about my trip to check on my father,\u201d she told a local reporter, per Deadline Detroit. \u201cI\u2019ve got nothing to add.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t discuss my travel. I have received an incredible number of death threats over the last year and a half,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are a lot of reasons we don\u2019t discuss how I travel and when I travel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for Whitmer\u2019s father, he appears to be alive and well \u2014 but is now in Michigan, having apparently traveled from Florida.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Richard Whitmer, the governor\u2019s father] appears to have made a miraculous comeback. Great Lakes News, a website that is often critical of Whitmer, and is also a statewide radio network with 35-plus affiliates, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greatlakesnews.org\/2021\/04\/exclusive-governor-whitmers-father-seen-driving-in-lansing\/?utm_source=home-headline-stories\">reported<\/a> last week that her father was seen in the parking lot of a Lansing-area mall, getting into a brand new Tesla,\u201d Deadline Detroit added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winknews.com\/2021\/03\/12\/covid-19-variants-taking-over-in-florida\/\">Michigan Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer Caught Allegedly Making False Statements About Travels: Report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michigan\u2019s Democrat governor, Gretchen Whitmer, reportedly asked a group of wealthy Detroit businessmen to borrow a private jet so that she could travel to Florida in March, just as Florida &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2277471,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gretchen-Whitmer-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Report: Gretchen Whitmer Used Private Jet Borrowed From Billionaires To Travel To Florida During COVID Crisis","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-478526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Gretchen-Whitmer-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Report: Gretchen Whitmer Used Private Jet Borrowed From Billionaires To Travel To Florida During COVID Crisis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478526","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=478526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/478526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2277471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=478526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=478526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=478526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}