LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer insisted Monday that President Joe Biden can still win her state, a crucial battleground in the 2024 election, even as many Democrats nationally question whether Biden should continue after his shaky debate performance.
Whitmer’s statement comes at a time when many in her party doubt whether she could take Biden’s place and run against Republican Donald Trump this fall. Whitmer and several other leading Democrats nationally have publicly endorsed Biden since Thursday’s debate.
“I am proud to endorse Joe Biden as our nominee, and I stand behind him 100 percent in the fight to defeat Donald Trump,” she said in her statement. “Not only do I believe Joe can win Michigan, I know he can because he has the revenue: He has reduced health care costs, brought back manufacturing jobs, and is committed to restoring the reproductive freedom women lost under Donald Trump.”
The statement comes after Politico Magazine reported on Monday that Whitmer called Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, on Friday. It quoted “someone close to a possible Whitmer competitor for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination” as saying the Michigan governor “called O’Malley Dillon with a rather explicit SOS: to say that Michigan was no longer up for grabs for Biden after the debate.”
A Whitmer aide, Helen Hare, said the reported comment was false.
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This story has been corrected to show that Jen O’Malley Dillon is the chair of Biden’s re-election campaign, not the campaign manager.
