GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Four days after getting grilled at a congressional hearing on the Flint water crisis, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder received a standing ovation from the Economic Club of Grand Rapids on Monday.

The applause from the crowd of 500-plus preceded Snyder's March 21, talk, in which he said the Flint "tragedy" can be a call to action nationwide. The ovation prompted a swift rebuke on social media.

"It makes you feel good (to get the ovation)," Snyder said after the luncheon at the J.W. Marriott hotel in downtown Grand Rapids. "There's a lot of positive support out there that appreciate the challenges.

"I hope they appreciate the fact I took responsibility for some of the people that worked for me, the tragic mistakes they made, and I'm focused on fixing the problem."

RELATED: 7 key moments from Flint water crisis Congressional hearings

Brandon Dillon, Michigan Democratic Party chairman, quickly tweeted disdain for the crowd's support of Snyder. Protesters, who last week lined a Grand Rapids street with coffins and called for Snyder's resignation, were outside the hotel during Snyder's speech.



About the only place anyone in the world anyone would clap for him. Big Money still loves @onetoughnerd https://t.co/1fsOMV09H5 — Brandon Dillon (@BrandonDillon75) March 21, 2016

Question for the sycophants at the @GREconClub cheering for Snyder: Do you feel any shame standing for a guy that let kids drink poison H2O? — Brandon Dillon (@BrandonDillon75) March 21, 2016

Grand Rapids real estate developer Sam Cummings, in welcoming Snyder to the stage, said he's "never been more proud" to stand next to the governor. Cummings called "nasty personal attacks" on Snyder and his family "reprehensible."

"I am prouder than ever because I know it has affected him personally, and he is a human being. To see him vilified is horrible," Cummings said. "A lot of the coverage that has been given him borders on yellow journalism.

"The concept that this guy is a coldhearted dude that cares more about the state budget than he does people in its poorest neighborhoods is disturbing, at a minimum. That is so far from the truth. Whenever he asked the question (about Flint's transition to a new water source), everybody said it was OK."

Snyder called it "a huge mistake" for "career experts" in his administration to avoid putting corrosion controls into Flint's water in favor of first conducting extended testing of the quality.

"(Bad decisions by bureaucrats) is what caused the problem, folks, but I'm responsible," Snyder said. "Those folks worked for me and, believe me, I kick myself every day wondering what questions I could have asked. Why didn't we just use some common sense?

"It created a problem and people are suffering. What I can tell you is we're focused on problem solving."

Snyder touted his new 75-point plan for Flint, and his plan to fund a commission that would address water and sewer infrastructure around the state. He also criticized federal lead water regulations and called on the Legislature to adopt "a more stringent standard than the federal government because they're letting far too much lead end up in our water."

"This issue of water and lead is a problem we face in many other communities," Snyder said. "Don't believe Flint is alone in terms of having challenges.

"Flint is an illustration where we failed at all levels of government. Let's use this tragedy, this crisis, to say we can be smart enough to learn from it and help lead the nation in terms of smart policies to address (infrastructure) that's been ignored for decades, ignored to the point of becoming dangerous."

Matt Vande Bunte writes about government and other issues on MLive. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.