Former President Donald Trump said he’d like to have a presidential matchup against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), amid speculation she could lead the Democratic Party’s ticket should President Joe Biden drop his reelection bid.
During his first rally since surviving an assassination attempt, Trump polled crowds in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on who the Democratic presidential nominee should be.
“The Democratic nominee, we’re going to find out shortly, maybe, I don’t know,” Trump jeered as thousands of rally attendees cheered the former president. Trump slammed the Left for “frantically trying to overthrow the results of their own party’s primaries to dump crooked Joe Biden,” before he asked supporters whether they preferred a Biden candidacy or a challenge from Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Who would you most like to run against if you’re us, if we want to win?” Trump asked. While MAGA supporters booed Harris and indicated support for a continued Biden candidacy, the former president told the Michigan crowd he would fancy a run against the state’s governor this November.
“You have a terrible governor here who did a terrible job — Whitmer.” He added, “I’d like to run against her.”
The former president criticized the progressive governor for how she handled COVID-19, slamming Whitmer for her lockdown measures even as her husband allegedly went sailing during that period.
“Her husband was sailing in the middle of your lake, your beautiful lake — he’s out there sailing, and everybody else had to be locked up,” Trump lamented as rally attendees booed Whitmer.
Trump’s comments on Saturday come as Whitmer denies reports she might replace Biden.
Last month, Whitmer said her only political ambition was to finish out her term as governor, which doesn’t end until 2027.
While slapping down presidential rumors, the Democratic governor has stood by Biden as he fights to salvage his wobbling bid for a second term. However, Whitmer hasn’t slammed the door on concerns that the president might not be up to a second term.
Earlier this month, Whitmer suggested it would be in Biden’s best interests to take a cognitive test, as fallout for his incoherent performance during the first presidential debate continues.
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Meanwhile, Whitmer has indicated she would be open to service as Vice President to Kamala Harris, should Biden’s No. 2 mount her own bid for the White House.
During an ABC interview on July 9, the Democratic governor said that being Harris’ running mate wasn’t necessarily “something I am angling for,” yet told the network, “I’ll never say never.”