What Did Gov. Whitmer's 'Shark Week' Comment Really Mean? AUDIO

Governor Gretchen Whitmer went viral earlier this week, but not for something she had intended to be shared thousands of times on the internet.

The clip (it's right here if you haven't seen it or just want to see it again) features Governor Whitmer mouthing a two-word expletive. "It's not just Shark Week, it's Shark Week, mother******." The moment of levity happened Monday just moments before she appeared on national television to open the Democratic National Convention.

But what did the comment mean?

To sum it up, it's about menstruation and women's empowerment.

In a BuzzFeed podcast released Thursday, Whitmer credited an unnamed female comedian who opened for Kevin Hart a few years ago. The comedian noted that women have become less shy about talking about their periods. Whitmer paraphrased the comedian, saying:

"Where women used to be demure, now, you know, if a woman is talking about menstruation she might say, ‘Well, it’s Shark Week, mother******!’”

The governor noted that a debate coach suggested she should put a smiley face on the top of her debate notes in order to make her seem happy. Whitmer felt that a smiley face wasn't going to do the trick.

"That's just so Saccharine -- a smiley face is not going to make me smile," she said. "So I would write 'It's Shark Week' on top of my paper."

Whitmer noted that the comment about women's empowerment got a laugh from the small crowd gathered in Lansing that night, but said that she had not intended for it to be captured and distributed.

The conversation with Governor Whitmer (which contains uncensored explicit language) can be heard below. Whitmer appears at approximately 13:25 into the podcast.