Governor violated coronavirus order

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham reportedly made a purchase from a retail jewelry store last month while, at the same time, ordering a number of industries to close temporarily following a statewide public health order.

Grisham, a Democrat, said in April that New Mexicans needed to stay at home and should only be allowed to purchase essential items such as food and medical supplies, reports KRQE-TV.

“We are in really tough financial times as a state. It mirrors the incredible, personal sacrifices that happen every single day because people have limited their ability to work, telecommuting and many people, in fact, have lost their jobs,” she said April 3.

However, days after her comments, she contacted an employee at Albuquerque’s Lilly Barrack jewelry store — where she has a longtime connection — to make a transaction over the internet, the news station confirmed.

Because of the public health order nobody was allowed in the store at the time.

Grisham spokesperson Nora Meyers Sackett told the Albuquerque Newspaper at the time that the agreement was in compliance with the public safety emergency order of the governor and that she was not getting preferential attention. A relative of Grisham’s picked up the bought pieces left outside the jewelry store staff ‘s house, the spokeswoman said.

Curbside collection outside stores was not permitted in the state until May 1st. Messages from Fox News to Grisham ‘s office were not returned instantly.

Republican state legislators suspected Grisham of hypocrisy for not upholding her own instructions.

“Our Governor is the latest Democrat to decide that the rules they impose on their citizens to address the COVID-19 pandemic don’t apply to her,” the New Mexico Republican Party tweeted Wednesday. “A bombshell report reveals that the governor violated her own stay-at-home order to stock up on some high-end jewelry.”

“The store was never ‘opened’ and a good safe process was followed. … The governor has, of course, in both her personal and professional lives adhered to all of the public health measures the state has enacted for the duration of this pandemic,” Sackett said.

Many jewelry shop owners informed KRQE that they weren’t letting anyone into the shop for fear of being fined. One noted that they had the impression that only online sales were allowed.

“Of course the governor has been telling people to stay home to the greatest extent possible, it’s also true she’s been urging New Mexicans to find ways to support local businesses,” Grisham’s office said, noting that the transaction was unusual.