LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is releasing a new memoir at a particularly challenging time for herself and the Democratic Party.
“True Grecci,” due for release on Tuesday amid the furor surrounding President Joe Biden's recent debate performance, likely won't do much to dispel doubts about her national ambitions. But in a pre-release interview with The Associated Press, Gov. Whitmer did all she could to quash such speculation, stating categorically that she wouldn't run again if President Biden were to step down.
“It's more of a distraction than anything,” Whitmer said. “I'm totally focused on running my government and campaigning for candidates, so I hate having my name in an article like this.”
In the book, Whitmer details events that played out on the national stage throughout her career, including her clashes with Donald Trump and a kidnapping plot aimed at her and her family.
While Governor Whitmer may not welcome the attention, her rapid rise from law school graduate to governor of Michigan in two decades has established her as a prominent figure within the Democratic Party.
Her position was solidified in 2022 by a crucial reelection and her party's success in flipping both houses of the state Legislature, giving Democrats complete control for the first time in nearly four decades.
“I have watched the first quarter of this century see our nation's politics slide sickeningly toward incivility and conflict,” Whitmer begins her book, adding, “And that is why I decided to write this book — to bring a little light to these dark times.”
Whitmer first came to national attention in 2013 as Michigan's Senate minority leader, when, before a vote on an anti-abortion bill, she abandoned prepared remarks and revealed that she had been raped in college.
“The thought of disclosing to this room, mostly men, about being assaulted as a young woman was terrifying,” she writes in the book.
More than a decade after that bill was passed, Governor Whitmer signed a law repealing it as governor, the same year Michigan voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution.
Whitmer has campaigned on abortion access as co-chair of the Biden campaign, saying Biden is on the “right side” in the abortion fight despite his poor performance in recent debates on reproductive rights.
“I think everyone agrees this wasn't his best 90 minutes,” she said in an interview. “But he's someone I've known for a long time, someone who's been delivering public service receipts to people for decades.”
During her campaign, Governor Whitmer said that if elected, Trump could roll back reproductive rights. During her first term as governor, she famously feuded with the then-president over the federal government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During a White House press conference, Trump referred to Governor Whitmer as “that woman from Michigan.”
Governor Whitmer has blamed the former president for stoking the political hatred that motivated the plot to kidnap and kill her in 2020. In her book, she criticized reports that called it a “kidnapping plot” and said it was clear the plot was to assassinate her.
Whitmer said her daughters have not returned to the residence where the conspirators were staking out, and that her husband has closed his dental practice after receiving threats.
“Nearly three years later, there's no doubt that the kidnapping and murder plot has changed me,” she wrote.
Of the 14 people indicted in state or federal court, five have been acquitted. Whitmer wrote in her book that she met with some of those who pleaded guilty to better understand, “ask questions, and really want to hear the answers.”
Whitmer, one of 12 female governors and perhaps the best known, writes candidly about how gender-based violence, threats and rhetoric have impacted her career and personal life. She shares the painful moment when she told her two daughters about the sexual assault and, years later, the plot to kill her.
Whitmer said it was sometimes difficult to revisit those events while writing the book.
“I think the way to address this issue is to actually talk about it,” she said.
She writes about her life as a partier before law school (she once vomited on her high school principal after a drinking session) and her relationship with her body, writing in the book that voters and reporters have discussed her looks and clothing more than her policies.
She remained unapologetically silent throughout, except when she expressed regret for having dinner with friends at a cheap diner despite pandemic restrictions. Whitmer noted that another Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom of California, was also criticized for visiting a three-star Michelin restaurant during the pandemic.
Newsom's name was mentioned alongside Whitmer as a possible successor to Biden last week.
Politico reported on July 1 that “a person close to Whitmer's potential rival for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination” said after the debate that Whitmer no longer thought Michigan was winnable for Biden.
Governor Whitmer denied the reports earlier last week.
“I find it frustrating that some media outlets will report on statements made by staff members of my future opponents,” Whitmer said.
Whitmer concludes her memoir with a reference to the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, as “the man of the arena,” and colorfully describes her love of pink clothing.
“The man might be a woman, and she might just be wearing fuchsia,” Whitmer concluded.
In an interview, Whitmer said she has shared that message with her staff, which is to “do the hard but right thing.”
“But it's a bit outdated,” she said with a laugh.
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Bolmert reported from Indianapolis.
