Overview
- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made the case in an NPR interview with Steve Inskeep recorded at the Detroit Auto Show and released Tuesday.
- She rejected Michelle Obama’s assertion that the country is not ready to elect a woman to the White House.
- Whitmer said Kamala Harris’ 2024 defeat to President Donald Trump should not be attributed solely to gender.
- She pointed to wins by Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024 and by governors Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey in 2025 as evidence of voter openness.
- Term-limited in 2026, Whitmer serves as vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association, has not announced any run for higher office, and criticized the Trump administration’s probe of Slotkin as an “abuse of power.”