KRQE News 13 in New Mexico learned that Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham broke her lockdown rules in order to buy jewelry.
Lujan Grisham claims she didn’t do anything wrong. She explained the caveats to the lockdown only after she got caught. These caveats surprised other small business owners, who thought absolutely no one was allowed in their stores for any reason.
On April 3, Lujan Grisham told New Mexicans to stay home and leave only for essential items. She also shut down non-essential businesses.
Days later (emphasis mine):
However, just days after the April 3rd news conference and a week before Easter, KRQE News 13 has learned that Gov. Lujan Grisham called an employee at Lilly Barrack on Paseo to buy expensive jewelry. The jewelry was bought over the phone, but the employee went to the store, got the jewelry and placed it outside the door of the store where someone who knew the governor picked it up. This is according to the person who runs Lilly Barrack stores. She says she didn’t know about it until after it happened. She also said no one was allowed in the stores at that time due to the public health order.
That last sentence is key. The person who runs the store apparently interpreted the public health order the way most did: no one is allowed in the stores at all. Remember this.
Lujan Grisham did not deny this happened:
The governor refused an on-camera interview but has a different version of the story. In an email from a governor spokesman, he says that “Lujan Grisham did call an employee, saying they had a longstanding personal relationship. The employee came here [Lilly Barrack], got the jewelry and took it home, left it outside their home and then someone came and picked it up.”The governor’s office first said it was a campaign staffer, then later told KRQE it was the governor’s friend, but wouldn’t release a name. They also said the transaction was entirely contact-less, remote and permissible.
Here’s the last part of the statement that goes with the highlighted part above (emphasis mine):
The spokesman also pointed to the governor’s order at the time stating “none of the state’s public health orders have restricted the conduct of business operations in which an employee only interacts with clients or customers remotely.” However, that same order also states it requires the closure of physical retails spaces and doesn’t mention anything about home delivery.In a time of non-essential closures where curbside was not allowed, KRQE asked if home delivery was okay. The governor’s spokesman said it was not a home delivery and businesses were encouraged to find creative ways to conduct business safely. He also added the store was not opened for the governor and stated that “turning the key inside a door to ‘open’ a store wouldn’t violate the order…” He also said non-essential businesses all across the state let employees in to do inventory or clean.
That is news to other non-essential businesses! Mark Diamond Jewelers did not read the orders that way. Gertrude Zachary, another jewelry store, said it did not allow anyone in the store “and they wouldn’t even risk it because of a fear of fines.”
Ooh Ahh Jewelry’s manager told KRQE the store only “did online sales with one person in the shop who shipped orders out.” The store did not do any “home or curbside deliveries because it wasn’t part of the April public health orders.”
New Mexico did not allow curbside pickup until May 1.
Ah, yes. Another “for me, but not for thee moment.” We all know that some animals are more equal than other animals.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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