Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday told reporters she regrets hiding her face during a visit to the Oval Office last week, a moment captured in a viral photograph.

Whitmer was in Washington D.C., last week to give a speech about manufacturing and meet with President Donald Trump. Her office said she was “surprised” to end up in an Oval Office press conference, where the president signed a host of executive orders as she stood in the corner.

Over the weekend, The New York Times published a photo of Whitmer hiding her face in blue folders, an image commenters on social media called a “metaphor for the Democratic Party” and predicted would damage her political career.

“I (didn’t) want my picture taken. That’s all it was,” Whitmer, a Democrat, said Monday after a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.

“I kind of wish I hadn’t put my folder up in front of my face. But whatever. You know, I was there. I mean, I just wrote a book (“True Gretch”) about learning to laugh at yourself, so I’m pretty good at it.”

Whitmer was at the White House with House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township. In a televised portion, they discussed with the president Asian carp in the Great Lakes and a proposal for the Pentagon for more fighter jets at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County.

During the event, Trump praised Whitmer as a “very good person.” She stood by as he signed executive orders, including two calling for Justice Department investigations of members of his first administration who publicly said the 2020 presidential election wasn’t stolen.

Some of Whitmer’s fellow Democrats have criticized the appearance, insinuating that she got used. NBC News aired a story in which anonymous Democrats claimed the visit was a “disaster” for Whitmer.

On Monday, Whitmer said her priority for the trip was to seek a federal disaster declaration for ice storms in northern Michigan and to seek help for Selfridge.

“If I can get either of those things, it’s all worth it, because I’m just there to fight for the people of Michigan,” she said.

This article is being republished through a syndication agreement with Bridge Michigan. Bridge Michigan is Michigan’s largest nonprofit news service and one of the nation’s leading and largest nonprofit civic news providers. Their coverage is nonpartisan, fact-based, and data-driven. Find them online at  https://www.bridgemi.com/.