Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer threw cold water Thursday on the idea of a 2028 presidential bid, saying that while “there will be a robust group of people running for president, I will not be one of them.”
Whitmer made the comments in an interview with Fox 2 Detroit while discussing her plans after she leaves office next year.
Saying that she was “looking forward to taking a little bit of a break” after leaving office, and “not jumping right into something,” Whitmer said she’d “gotten counsel” from former government officials such as former Rhode Island Gov. and Commerece Secretary Gina Raimondo, former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan.
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A popular two-term governor from a premier battleground state, Whitmer has long been seen as a top potential contender in the 2028 Democratic presidential primary. She was a finalist in former President Joe Biden’s 2020 vice presidential search and has spent years burnishing a national profile.
But Whitmer’s tenure has also included a few high-profile stumbles – including an infamous appearance at Trump’s White House last year during which she was captured holding a folder up to hide her face as cameras in the room snapped photos.
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Whitmer has long given mixed signals about her intentions in 2028.
“I don’t know if I need to be the main character in the next chapter, but I want to have a hand in writing it, and I think I’ve got an important vantage point as the governor of an important swing state,” she told Canadian journalist Steve Paikin last fall.
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