Whitmer hides face during Trump visit. It's another cringey moment for Democrats. | Opinion
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created a viral moment by trying to hide in the Oval Office. But at least she was willing to meet with President Donald Trump.
It’s not the viral moment Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hoped she’d have.
Whitmer, a Democrat, traveled to Washington, D.C., recently to give what her staff labeled a major speech that touched on President Donald Trump’s tariffs and rebuilding Michigan’s manufacturing base.
But that’s not what stole the headlines.
Rather, it was the awkward photos of Whitmer standing in the Oval Office on April 9. In one, she tried to block the cameras by putting her folders in front of her face, not unlike how toddlers try to “hide."
In others, she looked incredibly uncomfortable, as if she wanted to bolt out the door as fast as she could.
What happened?
Whitmer apparently had a planned meeting with Trump at the White House to discuss Michigan and Great Lakes-related issues. She didn’t, however, anticipate being part of a news conference in which the president signed multiple executive orders.
During the briefing, President Trump said this of Gov. Whitmer: “She’s really done an excellent job.” He also called her a “very good person.”
That praise – and the whole uncomfortable exchange – shocked Democrats and Republicans alike, for different reasons.
And it highlights the challenges Democrats continue to face in settling on a strategy with Trump.
Whitmer was once 'the woman in Michigan.' Now she's buddies with Trump?
I live in Michigan, so I saw firsthand the battle that played out between Whitmer and Trump in 2020.
Whitmer’s criticism of Trump and the federal government at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic led him to lob insults back at her, calling her “the woman in Michigan” and posting on social media that she was “way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue” and “likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude!”
Yet, in many ways, Whitmer has Trump to thank for her rising political stardom. It’s because he called her out multiple times that the country – and Sunday morning TV shows – began paying attention to the fairly new governor in Michigan. It’s also no doubt the reason she was a top contender to be then-candidate Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick ahead of the 2020 election.
Now, Whitmer is seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate (her second – and final – term as governor ends after next year).
As a liberal governor of a battleground state that Trump won in November, Whitmer is politically savvy enough to realize she has to find some sort of political middle ground with the president. And all governors, regardless of party, have to work with presidents for the benefit of their states.
During her speech ahead of the hike-and-seek moment in the Oval Office, Whitmer called widespread partisanship “exhausting” and said she agreed with Trump that “more hardworking people” should have a “fair shot at a decent life.”
Democrats painted Trump as the devil. That's why they're struggling now.
Similarly, at a White House dinner with governors in February, Whitmer sat next to Trump.
At the time, she told the Detroit Free Press: “I took an oath of office to the people of Michigan, and it means putting Michigan’s interests above my own or above my political party’s interests. You can’t have a conversation about things that matter if you’re not in the room.”
She’s right. So it’s hard to explain why she bungled a high-profile appearance with Trump so badly.
I think it has something to do with how Democrats – including Whitmer – demonized Trump ahead of the election. They painted him as a devil who would destroy our democracy.
That makes working with him now harder to defend, and it’s part of why the Democratic Party is having such a low moment. Democrats' approval numbers are in the tank, and they can’t agree on a coherent message as they look to the midterm elections and 2028.
Comedian and long-time liberal Bill Maher had dinner recently with Trump at the White House, and Maher shared in detail how the meeting went on his show April 11.
Maher’s entire monologue about the dinner is worth watching, but what stood out most to me was simply his willingness to talk to Trump, with whom Maher has had pointed differences over the years.
“As you know, 12 days ago, I had dinner with President Trump − a dinner that was set up by my friend Kid Rock, because we share a belief that there’s got to be something better than hurling insults from 3,000 miles away,” Maher said.
The left’s “resist” movement with Trump clearly hasn’t worked. So it makes sense for Democrats like Whitmer to try something new.
They just shouldn’t hide when they do.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at Paste BN. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques