Michigan governor booed off stage in Flint

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was booed off the stage in Flint, Michigan, on Wednesday afternoon as he tried to make a short speech ahead of President Barack Obama, who was in town to address the city's ongoing water crisis. 

The roughly 1,000-person crowd shouted Snyder down as soon as he took the podium and wouldn't stop. 

Snyder tried to tell Flint residents that he understood "why you are angry," and said he had come to "apologize."

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But the crowd was far past the point of caring about an apology.

Many of them shouted "you failed us," after Snyder told them "government failed you." 

Obama defended the beleaguered governor during his turn to speak, telling the booing crowd "no no no ... we're doing some business here." He also took sips from a glass of Flint drinking water, presumably to reassure residents that it was once again safe to drink. 

Flint's water crisis began in 2014, when the city switched its water supply from clean Lake Huron water to Flint River water to save cost. 

The river water was too corrosive for the pipes, which began to leech lead into the water that wound up in households around the city. 

As residents began to voice complaints, evidence began to show that government employees hid evidence that Flint's water was contaminated with toxic levels of lead. 

Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have called on Snyder to resign, and the crowd seemed to agree with that sentiment.

The governor has repeatedly said he won't voluntarily leave office, citing a sense of duty to repair the problem. 

"That's not what Michiganders do, when you have a problem like this," he said in an interview with Michigan Live in early April. " I had people who work for me make terrible errors in judgment, lack of common sense. You don't roll up in a ball, you don't walk away. You say, 'I'm committed to solving the problem,' and I'm focusing on doing that."

At the end of his speech, Snyder thanked the crowd for allowing him to speak, and he quickly left. 

Three Michigan officials face criminal charges for allegedly trying to cover up the water's toxicity, including Stephen Busch, a district supervisor in the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance; Mike Prysby, who also works for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; and Mike Glasgow, who oversaw Flint's water quality. Snyder has not been implicated in the cover up. 

According to the EPA, filtered water is now safe to drink in Flint for everyone except children under six and pregnant women, but some residents still say they are anxious and worried about drinking the filtered tap water. Obama's visit was largely intended to assuage those fears. 

Gillian Edevane contributed to this report. 

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