Her Instagram rant is the combination of breathtaking ignorance born out of privilege.
Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matt Stafford, went on an Instagram rant Thursday morning, calling Michigan a “dictatorship” in response to new coronavirus regulations put in place by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In her rant, for which she later apologized, Stafford lamented the closing of “small businesses” but, as she kept talking, showed breathtaking levels of ignorance and a basic failure to understand the economics of the pandemic.
“I’m so over living in a dictatorship that we call Michigan. I understand there’s a pandemic, and I understand it’s very scary. I’m scared of it, too. If you are at risk, do not leave your house until there’s a vaccine,” Stafford said in a string of videos. “Shutting down all these small businesses, things that people have worked their life for, shutting them down again is not the answer, because they will not make it, so once we are able to leave our house, once this dictatorship decides to let us have some freedom, there will be nothing left. I’m just over it.”
Stafford is rightfully getting dragged for her baseless claim that Michigan is turning into a “dictatorship,” especially given the very serious threats to Gov. Whitmer’s safety. Stafford’s statements aren’t just factually incorrect, they’re irresponsible and add to an already exacerbated climate that views any attempt to control the pandemic, whether by mask wearing or business closures, as an attack on personal freedom.
The restrictions that Stafford was railing against come as Michigan has added 5,772 coronavirus cases and reported 62 deaths. According to the CDC, Michigan has the sixth highest number of cases by state in the US, and ranks fifth in deaths. Just this week, Michigan added 25,993 cases and recorded 196 deaths.
And still, the point that seems to be flying over Stafford’s head is that small businesses wouldn’t need to stay open if the federal government would just pass a relief bill. The issue here isn’t closing up shops, it’s that the Senate failed to pass much needed assistance to the American people that would allow to them to keep their livelihoods and stay home at the same time. If that happened we could save lives and could all get back to normal just a little bit quicker. Members of the Senate actually went on Thanksgiving vacation on Wednesday, failing to pass any kind of emergency relief bill.
If Stafford is so concerned about small businesses, she needs to pay actual attention to the politics of the situation, rather than her own inconvenience, and see what’s really keeping hard working people in a chokehold. It is not the state shutting down shops and restaurants and schools, but Republican leadership caring more about partisan politics than people.
Of course, Stafford is entirely too comfortably ensconced in her wealth and privilege to have to deal with any of the devastating effects of the pandemic. Therefore, she’s free to rail against what she views as injustice on the part of others, without having to acknowledge the full breadth of suffering, like the thousands of health care workers, the elderly and vulnerable, and those who have become housing and food insecure. Stafford’s little speech is just a prime example of withering and willful ignorance that comes with a certain kind of privilege. Her rant is not about wanting to help small business, no matter how much back tracking on Instagram she does, but about selfishness masquerading as concern for the little guy.
