Monday's CBS Mornings interview of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) was unsurprisingly a shallow conversation intended to promote the governor and her book True Gretch, as well as give her a chance to prattle on about the apparently numerous positive expectations surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Co-host Vladimir Duthiers began by fan-girling about Whitmer’s accomplishments and her book, weirdly declaring his excitement about the governor’s “leather and lipstick” outfit on the cover picture and exclaiming, “I love that. It’s your armor.”
Duthiers followed up with a question about Whitmer’s potential as a vice presidential pick for the Democratic ballot: "So, let me ask you. You are seen as a potential vice presidential pick even though you're co-chairing her campaign. This is a yes or no question–have you been asked by the campaign to provide any documentation for that effort?"
Just like Maryland Governor Wes Moore, she responded with the appropriate reassurance that she was “not a part of the vetting” and would “stay as governor until the end of my term at the end of 2026.”
Whitmer continued with over-sentimental descriptions for the Democratic Party, proudly predicting that their national convention would be a “convention of happy warriors” who “see one another, we uplift one another, we can find the joy in doing the work and helping people,” demonstrating the “stark” contrast with the Republican Party.
Co-host Nate Burleson asked the governor for her thoughts on suggestions that a successful vice presidential candidate would necessarily be a white man, an idea which she immediately shot down as “baloney,” pointing to the all-female chief executives in her own not so successful administration. But to her, all that mattered was “when you show up and listen to people…every person matters, every person's important. We gotta show up. We gotta build a future so that every person can see prosperity and a brighter future in this country.”
She elaborated by insisting Harris “knows how to solve problems and get things done and that's really, I think, gonna be very evident after convention and then you'll see a much broader communications strategy.” Yet, in light of the economic disasters Harris would inherit from President Joe Biden’s administration, many prominent economic figures, including Steve Forbes, have expressed concerns about a potential Harris presidency only exacerbating the economic crisis.
Duthiers later pressed Whitmer on the fact that “more than 100,000 Michiganders voted uncommitted in the Democratic primary to protest President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.” She defaulted to a previous response, densely repeating, “I think the greatest superpower that any one of us can have is the ability to listen, the ability to show up.”
Whitmer continued by saying, “The only universal truth, right now, is that everyone is hurting,” and congratulated Harris for “meeting with Bibi Netanyahu and reaffirm[ing] her support for Israel,” even though the vice president had notably boycotted the Israeli prime minister’s address in front of Congress.
Ironically enough, Whitmer placed significant emphasis on the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), even though Democrats have taken up arms against the alleged racists who dared attribute the title to the vice president:
We need more people of color in places of–where all decisions are being made. We need more women. Diversity can be such a great strength. Companies that value that have greater profits. So it's in all of our interests to make sure that, as we make really hard decisions, there's diverse empowered representation.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS Mornings
7/29/2024
07:37:33 AM EST
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: Election day is now just 99 days away. Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign says it has raised $200 million in the week after President Biden stepped aside from the race. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer serves as the co-chair of the Harris campaign, so who better to have here studio? She turned her battleground state blue in 2022, with Democrats taking control of the governorship, the state house, and the Senate, successes she’s hoping to build on for Vice President Harris.
Governor Whitmer's author of the recent New York Times best seller True Gretch: What I've Learned About Life, Leadership, and Everything in Between. Governor, good morning. You're on the cover in leather and lipstick. I love that. It's your armor.
GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): That’s my armor. Yes.
DUTHIERS: So, let me ask you. You are seen as a potential vice presidential pick even though you're co-chairing her campaign. This is a yes or no question–have you been asked by the campaign to provide any documentation for that effort?
WHITMER: I have communicated with everyone, including the people of Michigan, that I'm gonna stay as governor until the end of my term at the end of 2026. So…
DUTHIERS: So you have not been…
WHITMER: I am not a part of the vetting.
DUTHIERS: …been–you’re not part of the vetting at all. And is there a scenario where you would potentially decide to be on the ticket with the vice president?
WHITMER: You know what, the vice president has got a great group of people from whom she's gonna pick her running mate. And I know that I can be the best ally on the ground in Michigan as a co-chair of this campaign, as well. So, that is my focus, and I've communicated that with everybody, so…
DUTHIERS: Alright. So–so–so what's happening now is, she has to hit a physical deadline, for example for the state of Ohio, to be on that ballot. Is there a logistical deadline that she has to meet in choosing a vice presidential running mate so that she can be on that ballot on August 7th?
WHITMER: Well, everything's truncated, and she's gonna make that decision probably in the next six, seven days. I would imagine we'll know who her running mate is, and we'll get ready for convention. I think what you'll see is a convention of happy warriors. Talked a little about this in the book, but it's really, I think, high-stakes election, but we also see one another, we uplift one another, we can find the joy in doing the work and helping people. And that's really, I think, what the stark choice is in front of us.
NATE BURLESON: Now, speaking of her running mate, you know, some politicians, political pundits, even voters say she has to choose a man–not only that, a white man, if she wants to win this election. Do you agree with that?
WHITMER: (Laughs). I don't agree with that. I'll tell you this–in Michigan, myself, my secretary of state, my attorney general, all the chief executives in Michigan are women. And every one of us was told there may be too many women on the ticket. Baloney. We've proved that wrong in the swingiest of swing states.
And, I think, when you show up and listen to people, which is part of, I think, my philosophy–and I know that Vice President Harris shares that–every person matters, every person's important. We gotta show up. We gotta build a future so that every person can see prosperity and a brighter future in this country.
BURLESON: Right about that.
MICHELLE MILLER: Is that the playbook strategy to improve her numbers in battleground states, which recent polls have her trailing Trump in some of them?
WHITMER: Yeah, I think the–you know, we are seeing on the ground a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. People are wanting to be a part of this moment and see the opportunity. We also know that it is–in Michigan, we don't clutch our pearls when we're down two points and we don't celebrate when we're up two. This is gonna go down to the wire. It’s gonna be a close race and we can't–we can’t forget that.
MILLER: Quarter of a million dollars almost raised in less than a week, I mean, well, a week, here we go. But no television ad campaign on the national level. What is taking so long?
WHITMER: Well, obviously, we've got a new standard bearer. And part of the focus is gonna continue to be getting ready for convention, where we can show people across the country that a Harris administration means your life's gonna get better. It means more money in your pocket. She knows how to solve problems and get things done and that's really, I think, gonna be very evident after convention and then you'll see a much broader communications strategy.
BURLESON: Abortion is a major issue in this election, and it's something that you write about in this book, a very personal episode that happened when you were younger. And you write about the time spending more than a decade working on overturning a restrictive abortion law in Michigan. You know, what did you learn during that process about yourself and your fellow politicians?
WHITMER: You know, well, you know, this book really is ten things I've learned in my life that I have used to navigate some of the toughest years anyone could imagine being governor and being governor of Michigan, with plots and pandemics and violence and demonstrations. And so, this, I think, chapter is really about never giving up.
BURLESON: Yeah.
WHITMER: I lost a fight to protect women's right to access healthcare in 2013. I shared the fact that I had been raped when I was in college. It was hard to do, and it's a story that I know so many people in this country–it resonates with.
BURLESON: You felt defeated afterwards.
WHITMER: I did. I was so depressed. But hundreds of people started reaching out. Ten years later, as sitting governor with a Democratic legislature, we were able to repeal that very law, on that ten-year anniversary. So these fights are worth having. We can win them. We never give up, and that's why this book–putting some light out into the world in a heavy time was what my agen–what my–what my goal was.
DUTHIERS: More than 100,000 Michiganders voted uncommitted in the Democratic primary to protest President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. How does the vice president, in part of that same administration, obviously, get those voters on board, because Michigan is key?
WHITMER: The biggest thing that–I think the greatest superpower that any one of us can have is the ability to listen, the ability to show up.
DUTHIERS: Yeah.
WHITMER: It’s part of what the lessons are in the book, but it's also how Vice President Harris–I think that's her philosophy, as well. She had that meeting with Bibi Netanyahu and came out–reaffirmed her support for Israel, but also recognized the humanitarian crisis that is playing out everyday. The pain that Arab Americans are feeling, and Muslim Americans, and Palestinian Americans, as well as Jewish…
BURLESON: It’s a huge demographic in Michigan, by the way.
WHITMER: Right, as well as Jewish Americans.
BURLESON: Yeah.
WHITMER: The only universal truth, right now, is that everyone is hurting. And acknowledgment of that, I think, was so important, and I'm grateful that she did it. We've gotta continue to show up on the ground in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the handful of states that are gonna be on the bubble and decide this thing. But I know that that's her philosophy, too–learning to listen.
MILLER: You know, floating the idea of a dual-woman ticket, people say sexism is simply too great in this nation. But you write about facing sexism in your book and how you battled against it. What advice would you give to the vice president on her campaign and to other politicians and women in general?
WHITMER: Well, you know, I'm always thinking about my daughters. I dedicated the book to my girls, Sherry and Sydney. I'm always thinking about what I do, how I show up every day, creates space for others. In the book, I talk a little about my phenomenal attorney general, Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. When one of us owns our space, we give license and legitimacy to other women who are.
We need more people of color in places of–where all decisions are being made. We need more women. Diversity can be such a great strength. Companies that value that have greater profits. So it's in all of our interests to make sure that, as we make really hard decisions, there's diverse empowered representation.
I talk about my chief medical officer in the middle of the pandemic, a woman named Joneigh Khaldun, a black woman who was also an E.R. Doc. She was the reason that we prioritized outreach and we fixed the fact that in the early days of Covid 40 percent of our deaths were people of color–were black Michiganders. After our work, it fell down to under 14 percent, which is what the true population representation is. It matters.
DUTHIERS: Real quick, governor, are you running for president in 2028?
WHITMER: (Laughs).
DUTHIERS: Yes or no?
WHITMER: I don’t know what I’m doing in 2028.
[Laughs]
DUTHIERS: Come back and see us.
WHITMER: Thank you.
DUTHIERS: Governor Gretchen Whitmer, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. True Gretch is available right now.
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