Kelly Stafford, wife of Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford, apologizes for comparing Michigan to ‘dictatorship’

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Kelly Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, apologized shortly after complaining about newly imposed COVID-19 restrictions in Michigan and calling the state a “dictatorship” on social media.

“should never have used the word ‘dictatorship,’ ” Kelly Stafford wrote Thursday in her Instagram apology. “i got caught up in the heat of the moment, that is my fault. i don’t know the answer and i won’t pretend to. i care about the people who are losing their lives or battling this.. and also the medical staff who care for them. and it is hard knowing these local business owners and watching them struggle and having to lay off their employees, not knowing how they are gonna make it. so i’m sorry. i let my emotions get the best of me. i love michigan and the people here.. don’t get that twisted in this This place was my rock during my tough times.

“and i wish there was an answer that pleased everyone but we know that is definitely not the case.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Sunday a set of three-week restrictions on in-person dining and visiting bars, as well as in-person classes at high schools and colleges aimed at curbing the spikes of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state. The order went into effect Wednesday and also canceled organized sports and group exercise classes.

Stafford’s apology came after she posted a video in which she spoke out against the new restrictions.

“I’m going to be very blunt,” she said Thursday in an Instagram story that has since been deleted. “I’m so over it. I’m 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.

“But shutting down 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. And once we are able to leave our house, once this dictatorship decides to let us have some freedom, there will be nothing left.”

This is not the first time Stafford has been publicly outspoken on issues. In August, she criticized the NFL for its handling of a false positive test that her husband received and said her family was harassed because of it.

Then, earlier this month, Matthew Stafford was again placed on the NFL’s Reserve/COVID-19 list after he was deemed to have been a high-risk close contact of someone who tested positive for the virus.

Kelly Stafford again criticized the NFL for making public the specific players who land on the COVID-19 list.

“Believe me,” Stafford continued on her comments about Michigan. “I know there are people out there stating: ‘That’s really ignorant of you, how could you say that?’ Listen, I know not everybody’s going to agree with me. Not everybody is going to agree with my every move I make. That’s life. We state our opinions, we move on.

“This is my opinion: I feel for these small businesses. It’s not that I don’t feel for the people that have COVID, or the hospitals. I do. But this is my opinion: I do not like living in a place where they tell me what I can and cannot do. I live once. Again, this is my opinion, you have yours, everyone has their own.”

The Lions travel to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

This article was originally published by Freep.com. Read the original article here.