Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (Democrat) defended President Biden. In a new interviewHe said many people don’t realize how often he plays an “aggressive schedule.”
Whitmer, national co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign, has reiterated her support for the president in recent days amid growing calls for her to drop out of the race following her poor performance in last month’s debate. She pointed to Biden’s busy schedule. USA Today While answering questions about age and intellectual ability.
“Now, like I said, I think this is a 90-minute snapshot of someone who made two trips to Europe in one week,” Whitmer, 52, said, adding that it would be a “grueling calendar” for someone her age.
“So I think about all the great things that people see, but never really stop and say, wow, he actually maintained this very active schedule and showed up and, of course, there was that debate performance and then there’s going to be millions of other debates after that where he’ll demonstrate his vigor and his ability,” she continued. “So I don’t think now is the time to throw it all away for one 90-minute debate.”
Biden said in an interview with ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos last week that he “felt terrible” before the debate and has previously blamed international travel for his poor performance in the debate against former President Trump.
Many Democrats, including several incumbent senators, have called on Biden to drop out of the race after he appeared to stumble over his words during a debate last month. Some have suggested he endorse another Democrat, with Vice President Harris, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro or Whitmer emerging as possible alternatives.
In a recent interview, Whitmer said she felt “uncomfortable” with talk of her replacing Biden as governor.
“I’m co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign and I’m doing everything I can to make sure the campaign is successful. I’ve been traveling and doing a lot of work in Michigan and I’ll continue to do that,” she said. “I feel like it’s undermining the work that I’m doing on behalf of the administration, so I don’t want to talk about it, I don’t want to see it.”
Biden has maintained he has no plans to step down. The incumbent continues to stress he believes he is the best candidate to beat Trump in the fall and, in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, challenged other Democrats to challenge him at the national convention.
When asked if it would be “good for the country” if Biden decided not to run for re-election, Whitmer said she was “not open to any discussions in that direction.”
“The president is in this race, he’s running, and I have his full support,” she said.
