It’s shameful that two Michigan state senators had to launch a GoFundMe to feed our troops in D.C. while Whitmer and Biden stand idly by.
March 8, 2021
State Senators Launch A GoFundMe To Feed National Guard In D.C. While Whitmer And Biden Fail To Act
The food National Guard troops are being served in Washington D.C. is “substandard,” “inedible,” and “causing some soldiers sick to the point of hospitalization.” After inaction from Governor Gretchen Whitmer and President Joe Biden, two Michigan State Senators have launched a GoFundMe to feed the 1,000 Michigan soldiers who are on assignment in Washington, D.C.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has known about the food problems for weeks. On Feb. 18 Gongwer Michigan exposed a problem with the “substandard” food and reported that Whitmer “dispatched Military and Veterans Affairs Director Paul Rogers Thursday to go eat with the troops to get a first-hand look at the situation.”
Whitmer was with Biden in Michigan on Feb. 19 for a tour of Pfizer and rode in the President’s limo with him back to the airport where they sat to talk for several minutes, according to the pool report.
Whitmer has publicly discussed how she has reached out to the Acting Army Secretary but it’s unclear if Whitmer brought the food troubles issue directly to the commander-in-chief’s attention during their meeting. During an online press event on March 2, Whitmer said it was her “understanding that the quality of the food has dramatically improved.”
State Senator Tom Barrett, who is also a member of the Michigan National Guard, posted on Facebook about the fundraiser which will help distribute prepaid gift cards for food purchases for our Michigan National Guard soldiers currently assigned to the U.S. Capitol.
“The soldiers have been left with no good option other than purchasing their own meals out of pocket because they can’t trust the food they have been served. At least 50 troops have already had food poisoning symptoms…”
Whitmer knew about the sickness causing food being served to Michigan’s National Guard in D.C. when she met with President Biden in Michigan and our troops deserve to know if she brought this to the commander-in-chief’s attention. It’s shameful that two Michigan state senators had to launch a GoFundMe to feed our troops in D.C. while Whitmer and Biden stand idly by. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action