LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — It was a political cat and mouse game that Governor Gretchen Whitmer played for six months as reporters tried to nail down if she wanted to be the running mate with Joe Biden.
WLNS’ Tim Skubick was in the hunt for the story, and in this second part of our one-on-one interview the governor, he finally got his answer.
Skubick: “You said last September ‘I do not want to be Vice President’ that still stand?”
Whitmer: “Correct.”
Skubick: “It has not changed?”
Whitmer: “Not at all.”
Skubick: “And it won’t?”
Whitmer: “Correct.”
That takes care of that then, right?
Not quite.
By the time the Governor appeared at the second Democratic Presidential Debate in Detroit, the Vice Presidential speculations were in full bloom, and they only intensified when Joe Biden clinched the nomination.
The Governor was vetted for the second spot on the ticket as Biden confirmed she was on his short list.
Of course, the nomination went to Senator Harris, but the nagging question was still unanswered all these months.
Capitol correspondents spent six months chasing the governor around and asking her whether or not she wanted to be the Vice Presidential running mate of Joe Biden.
She never gave a direct answer, until now.
Skubick: “I’m puzzled by your inability or reluctance to answer that question … If he called and offered, would you have taken it?”
Whitmer: :”If Joe Biden had called and said ‘I need you to be my partner and be my running mate,’ I would have said yes. This election was that important.”
When Harris was chosen, it turned out to be a sign of relief for the governor’s daughters and husband.
“There might have been a sigh of relief over here at the governor’s residence… I think everyone was pleased with the outcome, yes.”
After 15 months of speculation, there finally is a concrete answer. Governor Whitmer was ready to go to Washington.
In part 3, Governor Whitmer talks about her feud with President Donald Trump.
