Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is no longer “Ridin’ with Biden.”
In a CNN interview, she stumbled her way through an awkward question about former President Biden’s obvious decline. The interview was before the former president was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, which some doctors say should have been caught.
“I was busy working,” she explained. “I didn’t see the president frequently, and I can’t speak to that directly.”
Unfortunately, the entire world saw it. Live. Biden’s decline was unmasked for the entire world to see on June 27, 2024, during the most disastrous presidential debate in modern history. So how did his No. 1 cheerleader not see it?
As Biden’s campaign chair, Whitmer had a responsibility to communicate with the president and help him get re-elected. Why would she knowingly campaign for and support a candidate who was obviously showing signs of dementia and unfit to lead?
Perhaps because she wanted the job.
Whitmer and Biden had a close relationship prior to 2020 when she was publicly considered for Biden’s VP. Ultimately, Biden decided to run with Kamala Harris, but it didn’t sour their relationship—only her relationship with Harris. Whitmer wanted the presidency and it was always Kamala Harris who stood in her way.
When President Joe Biden came to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in September 2022, it wasn’t just to see cars. He was also there to campaign for Gov. Whitmer’s re-election, attending a fundraiser near Detroit.
The duo drew criticism after they walked in holding hands at the Auto Show. Was she guiding him? Holding him up?
Whitmer spent most of 2023 and 2024 traveling to Norway, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Latvia, Japan, and Taiwan, under the guise of “economic development” and launching her book “True Gretch”—conveniently released right before the DNC Convention in Chicago.
Whitmer also launched “Fight Like Hell,” a federal PAC she claimed was to raise money for Biden and other prominent Democrats. It was speculated the PAC was also in place to serve as a campaign mechanism in the event she became the presidential nominee.
After Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Politico published a column that cited an anonymous source who claimed Whitmer said Michigan was no longer winnable for Joe Biden.
The report also said her name was floated as a replacement. According to the source, Whitmer also called to disavow her interest in running for president.
But after a meeting with other prominent Democrats and governors, Whitmer backtracked and affirmed her support of Biden’s run.
We’ll never know what was decided at the governor’s meeting, but just a few days later, Biden chose to drop out abruptly and endorsed Kamala Harris as his replacement. Prominent Democrats almost immediately lined up behind her, including Whitmer. It was almost as if the decision had already been made.
Whitmer’s plan backfired. Not only would she not be crowned as the new nominee, but she would have to defend her decision to support Biden’s second campaign as his obvious decline unfolded for the entire world to see.
Last month, she appeared in the Oval Office, hiding her face behind a set of folders. Perhaps she wants us to think they were obstructing her view of the last four years, but they certainly didn’t obstruct ours.
Anna Hoffman is a hockey mom of three living in Ann Arbor. Follow her on X @shoesonplease.
