Why Whitmer Played Wallflower in Trump's Reality Show

You'd hide yourself too if your ears were burning as badly as hers most certainly were - here are the Top 3 things I noticed about her otherwise cringe-worthy Oval Office visit.

I remember an evening in early 2019, one year into my traffic control technology sales career and nearly two years before the 2020 election changed the course of my life, in which I was being honored as one of the top salesmen in my company. I had exceeded my quota in my rookie year by nearly 40% and had a penchant for bringing in new customers, which is an exceedingly valuable talent in a world conditioned to fear rejection. In the photo, I’m standing in the very back smiling, holding an award that can’t be seen because others in the photo are blocking it out.

I am most certainly concealing my face or acting like I shouldn’t be up there, like Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer did last week when she visited President Trump in the Oval Office:

Gretchen Whitmer acting totally normal

This behavior is a bit strange, I must say. It’s not every day the President calls you to appear at the White House and refers to you as a “very good person” doing an “excellent job,” so why do the old Homer Simpson bit?

Played properly, Whitmer had a gift of a moment that would have strengthened her 2028 chances (yes, she’s definitely running, and I’ll explain why later). Given that either party must command the electoral votes the ideologically moderate, populist belt of working-class states stretching from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin to win modern-day presidential elections, this was a grand slam of an opportunity for Whitmer to make a play like this:

President Trump, who won our state twice, had me to the White House to discuss solutions that will bring economic prosperity to our region. Some of you may not have supported his campaign, but voters sent a clear message they want change, and I want to be a voice that brings solutions instead of more polarizing division.

End of story. California radicals and white liberals around the country would be outraged, but she’d be the horse to beat in the Midwest when it came to the 2028 nominating process and would strengthen her case in her race against (likely) J.D. Vance. Whitmer is a vicious political creature, as evidenced by her pounding of Tudor Dixon, who never stood a chance and wouldn’t hammer home the magnitude of corruption present in the Great Lakes State when given the opportunity.

So, with the potential to spin a special visit to the White House as something that would pivot Democrats (at least some of them) into a part of the solution status, why would Whitmer cover her face? Why would she also be observed cringing throughout the meeting? I can think of three primary reasons why:

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I. Her Own Play for 2028

Whitmer is as likely to run for the Democrat Party presidential nomination in 2028 as the sun is to come up tomorrow morning. I know this because Gary Peters isn’t running for reelection in 2026, and despite being ineligible to run for reelection as governor (termed out), Whitmer isn’t interested in running for what would likely be an easily won seat for her, especially with Michigan’s house odds for Democrats in statewide elections.

She will be 54 this year, and if Vance (or a Democrat) goes on to serve eight years, she’d be 65 by the time she got another shot at the White House without an incumbent in the way. The time is now for Whitmer, but it appears she’s banking her hopes on angry, man-hating white women and the standard salad bowl of Democrat special interest groups rather than their old-school bread and butter, the white working class that they’ve alienated by shutting down industry and opposing resource extraction, all while giving benefits and handouts to people illegally invading our country.

Her run will set up another family feud that will make 2024’s look tame when the big pro-Palestine population of southeast Michigan forces Whitmer into a rivalry with Josh Shapiro (he will also certainly be running), who will have the backing of the big Jewish donors out east. Whitmer’s default support base won’t tolerate Shapiro’s, and neither will Shapiro’s base tolerate Whitmer’s. It seems Whitmer’s play by attempting to blend into the wallpaper is to dodge the fury of raging feminists who don’t give a rip about the fate of America’s working-class voter, which Whitmer talks big about at home but must relegate to unimportance on the national stage.

People are currently putting decent money down on a Kamala Harris governor run in California, but I think a Whitmer presidential run is worth putting your life savings on if Polymarket creates such a market.

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II. Her Ears Were Burning

I think some people assign meaning to Trump’s words when there is none; however, in this case, I most certainly don’t think Trump is particularly fond of Whitmer, especially with how he continues to maintain he won the 2020 election (which includes Michigan) and how he was aware of all the schemes and corruption present in the 2024 battlegrounds. Reading “very good person” describing someone who once staged her own kidnapping by a group of federal agents doesn’t compel me to think Trump is considering breaking through party barriers and naming her as a member of his cabinet.