Controversial governor of Michigan and Joe Biden VP shortlist pick Gretchen Whitmer went on NBC’s Late Night early Tuesday for yet another friendly, softball interview from her adoring media fans. Even though her constituents have been protesting her stringent lockdown for over a month now, host Seth Meyers tried to portray the Democrat as some kind of populist icon, admiring her “rapper name” and teasing her about being portrayed on Saturday Night Live.
Meyers opened the show fawning over Whitmer getting a rapper nickname: “But you had a local Detroit rapper refer to you as 'Big Gretch.' Is it safe to assume that 'Big Gretch' is your favorite of the two?” he gushed, referring also to President Trump calling her the 'woman from Michigan.' Meyers didn't bring up the less than flattering nicknames Michiganders have given her. Instead he gushed that it was “very good” and “high praise' to be called ‘Big Gretch’ by a Detroit rapper.”
Meyers went on to do public relations for the Democrat by touting her approval ratings amidst her controversial lockdown mandates: “And you do have an approval rating, it should be noted, as far as the way you've dealt this, of 72%, which is very high,” he fawned, adding the caveat that 28% still was no small number in a large state such as Michigan.
Meyers continued helping the Democrat explain why she was right and people protesting her were just fringe, racist bigots with questions like the following:
...We've seen things like, you know, organizers, protesters, I should say, with guns, confederate flags, swastikas you've gone out of your way to make it clear that you believe these people are participating in a political rally as opposed to responding to the stay-at-home orders. Why is it important for you to draw that distinction?
...How do you continue to get across the message that taking these precautionary steps are the right steps for your state to take?
Even though he acknowledged that Whitmer is on Biden’s running mate list, that didn’t stop him from getting overly friendly with Whitmer in the last half of the interview, palling around with her about Michigan beer, being portrayed by Saturday Night Live, and having a “punching bag” in her office. (Not sure how that last one will help Whitmer’s aggressive image):
MEYERS: You had the -- I wonder if it's surreal to watch when you see yourself on Saturday Night Live being portrayed by one of the cast members. You had the wonderful Cecily Strong play you. what was your review of that moment.
WHITMER: It was funny, but I have to tell you, I love Canada, but I drink Michigan beer, not Labatt's.
MEYERS: Of course, I would assume and you went so far as to actually send some Michigan beer to Cecily just to make sure that were they to play you again, they would not make the same error.
WHITMER: That's right. And you know, you having grown up in part of Michigan for part of your life -
MEYERS: Yeah.
WHITMER: You can help them on the accent too I think that would be a -- that would be an improvement as well.
MEYERS: Yeah. But I did hear you sent Bell's beer, and I can say from some time in the state, that's a very -- very nice choice by you.
WHITMER: It was hard to send it. I wanted to hold on to it.
MEYERS: Of course I wanted to finish by asking, that I've heard that you have a martial arts dummy in your office can you just tell us how that ended up there?
WHITMER: [laughing] Well, I was making a comment in front of my state police detail that it would be nice to have like a punching bag in my office and then all of a sudden this showed up in the office the next day. It was sitting in a warehouse and so they thought it would be good for me to have something to punch on occasion.
MEYERS: I see, as sort of a means of stress relief.
WHITMER: Yes, exactly. It's fitness
MEYERS: And now is this -- do you give the dummy a name or is it more helpful to be able to rotate names ?
WHITMER: You know, it's not committed to one name or another fortunately you've treated me well, so it won't be Seth today.
So it's perfectly fine for late night hosts to joke around with Democrat politicians the media is urging to run for national office, but God forbid a late night host mess up a Republican candidate’s hair for fear it “normalizes” him.
Read the transcript, below:
Late Night With Seth Meyers
5/19/20
SETH MEYERS: My next guest is the governor of the great state of Michigan here is my conversation with governor Gretchen Whitmer. So you have earned a couple of monikers over the course of this pandemic. The president has referred to you as -- I want to get this right -- "The woman from Michigan." But you had a local Detroit rapper refer to you as "Big Gretch." Is it safe to assume that "Big gretch" is your favorite of the two?
GRETCHEN WHITMER: I never knew how fond I could become of a phrase like "Big Gretch," but I dig it.
MEYERS: It's very good. And I should say one of the many great Michigan -- sports is rap music, so it is high praise to be called "Big Gretch" by a Detroit rapper
WHITMER: I agree, I'm grateful.
MEYERS: So, you know, on the national level, a lot of what we've seen out of Michigan is unfortunately the way people are responding to the stay-at-home orders in the capital. We've seen things like, you know, organizers, protesters, I should say, with guns, confederate flags, swastikas you've gone out of your way to make it clear that you believe these people are participating in a political rally as opposed to responding to the stay-at-home orders. Why is it important for you to draw that distinction?
WHITMER: I think it's important for people to know that Michigan is a state of almost 10 million people and when you see those pictures, I don't want people to think that's really what -- you know, the average person in Michigan is all about or what we are doing. The majority of people are doing the right thing. And because of it, we've flattened our curve, we've saved thousands of lives yes, it is, you know, a tough time and yes, there's a lot of angst. And sure, I'm not universally agreed with. But even those that disagree are staying home and doing the right thing because they know how serious this is. What you're seeing at the capital are political rallies. You see swastikas and confederate flags and assault rifles and nooses. That's not what you see as you go along Michigan generally. It is a -- organized political event. And that's why I'm not going to get too caught up in it, I'm just going to stay focused on doing the right thing.
MEYERS: And you do have an approval rating, it should be noted, as far as the way you've dealt this, of 72%, which is very high. Now, obviously in a big state, 28% is a lot of people and you know, states like mine in New York, people are getting frustrated and getting impatient. How do you continue to get across the message that taking these precautionary steps are the right steps for your state to take?
WHITMER: Well, I mean, people get it. We've had almost 5,000 people in Michigan die we are the tenth largest state in the nation and yet we have for weeks had the third highest number of deaths. This has hit us really hard. And we had a lot of our hospitals were at capacity in the early days the fact that people have taken this seriously has contributed to saving thousands of lives and keeping our hospital systems afloat. We are making steps to start to reengage sectors of our economy. The big three went back to work today. It is a phased-in reengagement but we're starting to make progress and I think people have to focus on the fact that we're making these moves because we've done the right thing. We've just got to keep doing it so we can take the next forward step.
MEYERS: You mentioned the big three going back under sort of modified work conditions I imagine something as big as the auto industry to Michigan that does give cause for optimism to people in your state when they see the car companies going back to work
WHITMER: Yeah, it's a big deal and it can't be a decision made in a vacuum. It has to be driven by the data. It has to be in concert with the UAW. And the leaders of the big three. And that's why it was really important that we are looking at the numbers, we're listening to the epidemiologists and the public health experts. We're developing the protocols to keep people safe in the workplace. All of these things have to come together, because we got to get this right . Lives are counting on it our economy is as well and so I think that we're taking very smart steps forward we've got to do this incrementally, though.
MEYERS: You are -- I should say your name has been buzzed about as a possible VP pick. I will assume that you can't speak to that, but can you speak to what the democratic party has to do to win a state in a presidential election that it won under Barack Obama and lost to Donald Trump? Like, what -- whether you're the VP or not, I'm assuming you can give some advice to the party.
WHITMER: Absolutely. You know, President Trump won my state by less than 11,000 votes. And I won two years later by almost 10 points it was an historic victory and I think that it was because I made sure to show up in all 83 counties. Now, I'm not saying that the presidential candidate needs to show up in all 83 counties but you got to show up because when you are actually talking to people, you don't get distracted by things that don't matter and issues that don't matter you stay focused on the things that do. My slogan was, "Fix the damn road." I didn't poll test that, I didn't come up with that on my own. It came from conversation after conversation with people of this state who are frustrated with government that can't even fix the roads. Now, of course we're sidelined by COVID-19, and so that may still be my slogan but the fact of the matter is, you got to show up and you can't take Michigan for granted.
MEYERS: You had the -- I wonder if it's surreal to watch when you see yourself on Saturday night live being portrayed by one of the cast members. You had the wonderful Cecily Strong play you. what was your review of that moment.
WHITMER: It was funny, but I have to tell you, I love Canada, but I drink Michigan beer, not Labatt's.
MEYERS: Of course, I would assume and you went so far as to actually send some Michigan beer to Cecily just to make sure that were they to play you again, they would not make the same error.
WHITMER: That's right. And you know, you having grown up in part of Michigan for part of your life -
MEYERS: Yeah.
WHITMER: You can help them on the accent too I think that would be a -- that would be an improvement as well.
MEYERS: Yeah. But I did hear you sent bell's beer, and I can say from some time in the state, that's a very -- very nice choice by you.
WHITMER: It was hard to send it. I wanted to hold on to it.
MEYERS: Of course I wanted to finish by asking, that I've heard that you have a martial arts dummy in your office can you just tell us how that ended up there?
WHITMER: [laughing] Well, I was making a comment in front of my state police detail that it would be nice to have like a punching bag in my office and then all of a sudden this showed up in the office the next day. It was sitting in a warehouse and so they thought it would be good for me to have something to punch on occasion.
MEYERS: I see, as sort of a means of stress relief.
WHITMER: Yes, exactly. It's fitness
MEYERS: And now is this -- do you give the dummy a name or is it more helpful to be able to rotate names ?
WHITMER: You know, it's not committed to one name or another fortunately you've treated me well, so it won't be Seth today.
MEYERS: That's good to know good to keep in mind for anybody who might think about crossing you. Hey, thank you so much for making time for us you know, obviously we say this to everybody, but with you in particular, I know you've received threats on your life. We really do want you to stay safe keep up the good work, and thank you so much for being here.
WHITMER: Thank you, I enjoyed it
