Gretchen Whitmer mocked after interview cuts out as she fiddled with earpiece during COVID question

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, 51,  'mysteriously' cut out from a live interview on Monday after she was asked about her COVID-19 lockdowns. 

The interruption came in the middle of a live interview with FOX 2 Detroit just less than 24 hours before the polls opened. 

As the television anchors began to ask Whitmer whether she regrets any decisions she made during the pandemic, the governor allegedly began to experience audio issues.

'Governor, when it come to your handling of the pandemic, we all know the critics over the past few years, do you have any regrets?' the anchor begins to ask as Whitmer can be seen touching her earpiece. 

Whitmer looked confused and befuddled after anchors began to ask her if she regretted her COVID-19 lockdowns and policies

Tudor Dixon, a Republican, called the incident mysterious on Twitter Monday morning 

The anchor continued to speak but Whitmer interjects: 'I'm sorry I can't,' followed by a slight buffer in her video. 

The Michigan governor then looks around and another person can be heard off camera saying 'oh s**t, I think we lost...' before cutting out again. 

'Go ahead governor, can you hear me okay' the anchor asks while Whitmer continues to look around, confused. 

'Did I do that when I touched the ear thing? It started to fall out,' Whitmer says to the off-camera help. 

'Oh no, it's okay,' the person behind the camera responds.  

'Governor, can you hear me? Gov. Whitmer?' one of the anchors asks as Whitmer sits staring at the camera in silence. 

The video is then cut as the hosts of the show say they will 'check back in' with the governor later. 

Whitmer's Republican challenger seized the opportunity on Twitter, sharing the interview clip and expressing her disbelief over the convenience of the timing. 

'We hope Gretchen Whitmer can get back on air to answer this question about her disastrous COVID policies (or will the equipment mysteriously malfunction again?),' Dixon wrote in a tweet Monday. 

The Republican gubernatorial candidate included the clip of the 'malfunction' in her tweet, which has since racked up more than 200,000. 

The tweet has also received more than 1,100 responses and 10,000 likes, with many calling the whole situation suspicious. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's video conveniently cut out Monday during an interview when she was asked about COVID-19 lockdowns in Michigan

'Such bad acting,' responded one Twitter user to Dixon. 

Another person disagreed, saying: 'Ha, she makes a better actress.' 

'Funny how her mic on her wireless headphone still worked but the speaker didn't,' wrote another, questioning the incident. 

After cutting out, Gov. Whitmer did not return on air to finish the interview. 

Whitmer' pandemic orders and procedures were regarded as some of the strictest in the nation

Whitmer was criticized for her strict lockdowns and procedures surrounding the pandemic. 

Despite the backlash, she has maintained that she made the right decisions. 

'We make tough decisions because lives are on the line,' Whitmer said during a recent debate with Dixon. 

'Studies have shown that our actions have saved thousands of lives.' 

Dixon wholeheartedly disagrees with Whitmer's statements, saying her policies were too strict and did more harm than good.

'She destroyed our small business community, stole years of schooling from our kids and forced hard-working Michiganders to follow her intrusive orders that picked winners and losers,' Dixon said in a statement to Bridge Michigan earlier this month.

Dixon says that Whitmer and Michigan's COVID-19 policies did more harm than good 

Only four states in the country had stay-at-home orders that lasted longer than Michigan. 

One outlet compiled data and found that Michigan's COVID-19 orders did in fact prevent deaths as Whitmer said, but they also severely damaged the economy and the state of learning for students who had attended school virtually. 

Nationwide, test scores in math and reading fell for nine-year-olds from 2020 to 2022. In Michigan, third graders had significantly lower scores, as well, matching the national trends. 

Poor children also fared the worst and efforts to recoup some time and offset losses have yet to help the students bounce back. 

The Republican candidate is hoping to unseat Whitmer on Election Day and remains just four points behind the incumbent

As of Election Day (but before the polls closed), FiveThirtyEight shows Whitmer with a 4.8-point margin in the race for governor. 

While that is still considered large by many accounts, Dixon has made up ground quickly since June, when polls showed her with just 22.5 percent of the vote to Whitmer's 57 percent. 

Michigan is one of the three major states that Democrats are fighting to keep control of in the 2022 midterms, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

Whitmer has made abortion a focal point of her re-election campaign in Michigan, where voters also will consider a ballot measure that would safeguard abortion rights in the state's constitution. 

Dixon supports a near-total ban on abortion but says the topic is not an issue in the governor's race because of the ballot question.