Michigan Governor Whitmer cancels 2024 presidential bid due to book launch

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is Publication of a new autobiography at a particularly difficult moment, both for herself and for the Democratic Party, but as she herself said when writing the book, her motto in politics has always been to “get the job done.”

Set to be released Tuesday amid the furor surrounding President Joe Biden’s recent debate performance, the film “True Gretch” will do little to allay questions about her national ambitions. But in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of its release, Whitmer did what she could to quell such speculation, saying bluntly that she would not enter the election if Biden were to withdraw.

“It’s a distraction more than anything,” Whitmer said. “I don’t like seeing my name in articles like that because I’m completely focused on governing and campaigning.”

Whitmer gained national attention in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic after signing what some called an overly restrictive stay-at-home order. She received significant backlash from the right, and Several armed individuals appeared at the Michigan Capitol to protest against their orders.

In the book, Whitmer recounts events that unfolded throughout her career on the national stage, including a clash with Donald Trump. Trump often showed support for people protesting coronavirus lockdown orders, calling those protesters “very fine people.” She was also known as “The woman from Michigan,” after Trump mentioned them in this way while attacking their curfews and social distancing orders.

While Whitmer may not be happy about the attention, her rapid rise over the course of two decades – from law graduate to governor of Michigan – has made her a prominent figure within the Democratic Party.

Her status was cemented in 2022 by a decisive re-election and her party’s success in flipping both houses of the state legislature, giving Democrats full control for the first time in nearly four decades.

“I spent the first quarter of this century watching our politics evolve in uncomfortable ways toward incivility and contention,” Whitmer says in the opening pages of her book, then adds, “That’s why I decided to write this book: to shed some light on a damn dark time.”

Whitmer first attracted national attention in 2013 when she was minority leader in the Michigan Senate. Before a vote on an anti-abortion law, Whitmer deviated from her prepared speech and said she had been raped while in college.

“The thought of opening up and telling this room full of mostly men how I was attacked as a young woman was horrifying,” she says in the book.

More than ten years after the law was passed, Whitmer, as governor, signed a bill repealing it—the same year Michigan voters enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.

Whitmer has pushed the issue of abortion access in her role as co-chair of the Biden campaign, saying he is on the “right side” of the abortion fight despite his lackluster performance in the recent debate over the issue of reproductive rights.

“I think everyone has admitted that it wasn’t his best 90 minutes,” she said in an interview. “But I’ve known this man for a long time and he’s been working for the public for decades, giving people money.”

Whitmer has stated at campaign events that Trump could restrict reproductive rights if elected to the Oval Office.

Whitmer blames former President Trump for stoking the political hatred that the plan to kidnap and kill her that took place in 2020In the book, Whitmer criticizes reports that speak of a “kidnapping plot,” saying it was clear that the plan was to murder her.

Whitmer says her daughters have not returned to the private residence monitored by the conspirators and her husband has closed his dental practice due to threats.

“Nearly three years later, there is no doubt that the apparent kidnapping and murder conspiracy has changed me,” she writes.

Five of the 14 defendants were acquitted in state or federal court. Whitmer says in her book that she wants to meet with a handful of those who pleaded guilty in the name of understanding the charges, “to ask the questions and really hear the answers.”

Whitmer is one of 12 female governors and arguably the most well-known. She writes openly about how gender-based violence, threats and rhetoric have affected her career and personal life. She recounts difficult moments when she told her two daughters about the sexual harassment and, years later, the plot to murder her.

Whitmer said it was sometimes difficult to return to those events while writing the book.

“I think I can deal with it by actually talking about it,” she said.

She writes about being a partier before law school (she once threw up on her high school principal after a drink), and her relationship with her own body. People from voters to reporters discussed her appearance and clothing more than her political views, she says in the book.

She is consistently unapologetic, except when expressing regret for dining with friends at a dive bar despite pandemic restrictions. Whitmer points out that another Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom of California, also faced criticism for going to a three-Michelin-starred restaurant during the pandemic.

Newsom’s name has been floated alongside Whitmer’s as a possible replacement candidate for Biden over the past week. Politico Magazine reported on July 1 that “someone close to a possible Whitmer rival for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028” said Whitmer said Michigan was unwinnable for Biden after the debate. Whitmer denied the report early last week.

“I find it frustrating that there are news outlets that publish something that an employee of a potential future opponent would have said,” Whitmer said.

Whitmer ends her memoir with the “man in the arena” quote from 26th President Theodore Roosevelt and a colorful reference to her own penchant for wearing pink.

“The ‘man’ could be a woman. And she could just be wearing fuchsia,” Whitmer concludes.

Whitmer said in the interview that she shares this quote with her staff and that it is about “doing the difficult, right thing.”

“But it’s a bit outdated,” she said, laughing.