Trump hasn’t been back in office for three months yet, but the 2028 presidential elections loom large. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) tried to stand out and remind the base of his existence with his fake filibuster thing last week, and I dare say it didn’t exactly do him any favors. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who has long been seen as a presidential contender waiting for her moment, is trying a different strategy, and it blew up in her face.
While Cory Booker is busy pandering to the progressive base, Whitmer is trying to brand herself as a unifying, consensus candidate—someone who can win over the swing voters who actually decide elections.
But she botched it. Whitmer visited the White House this past week in what should have been a showcase of bipartisan leadership. Instead, it turned into a public relations disaster, underscoring just how impossible it is for Democrats to navigate the political landscape in the Trump era without alienating someone.
The incident crystallized a core challenge facing Democratic contenders for 2028: How do you maintain credibility with a base that views any cooperation with Trump as tantamount to treason while simultaneously demonstrating the bipartisan leadership credentials necessary to win a general election?
This week, she came out in support of Trump’s tariffs:
Once the auto industry comes back to Michigan because Trump leveled the playing field with these Tariffs
— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) April 11, 2025
Republicans will never lose Michigan again
Don't take my word on it, listen to Gretchen Whitmer, who now supports Tariffs
Why.?.. bc they work 👍pic.twitter.com/P9EQjEbDLY
And even went to the White House… and that’s when things went south.
Here she is, looking like she just sold her soul to the devil in the Oval Office.
"Big Gretch" - epitome of confidence! pic.twitter.com/fXQXQsSRXI
— Sandy 〽️ (@RightGlockMom) April 12, 2025
The reason was obvious. Whitmer hadn’t expected the media to be there, cameras rolling and capturing her every move. Supporting tariffs was one thing—her state stands to gain from them—but being seen legitimizing Trump with an Oval Office meeting? That was simply too much to bear. Worse yet, she found herself standing nearby as he signed executive orders—some of which she didn’t support. Her silent presence near the Resolute Desk gave the impression of backing the orders, a visual that didn’t sit well with fellow Democrats. The illusion of bipartisan cooperation wasn’t worth the political fallout once the optics went public.
And the backlash was immediate:
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is under fire from fellow Democrats after appearing alongside President Donald Trump during a White House signing ceremony, sparking accusations that she was used as a political "prop."
"Just a f---ing disaster," said one Democratic operative, who usually supports Whitmer but spoke anonymously to NBC News.
"It feels like it removes some of the momentum she had as a politically savvy swing-state Dem."
Whitmer thought she'd be clever and solve her problem by physically hiding her face behind folders during an Oval Office photo op.
New photo of Wednesday’s Oval Office encounter involving Governor Whitmer from Eric Lee of The New York Times was published this morning. pic.twitter.com/bdGaaQGMEm
— Zach Gorchow (@ZachGorchow) April 12, 2025
And with that, she managed to turn a photo op that would have been forgotten into a viral moment that will haunt her forever.
CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere slammed the moment as a “huge embarrassment,” while CNN host Audie Cornish didn’t hold back, declaring, “This does not look like the politics of resistance.”
Dovere went a step further, hinting that Whitmer had been politically outmaneuvered by Trump, saying, “She [Gov. Whitmer] went for this meeting with the president, and he used her as a prop.”
Still, by attempting to conceal her presence, Whitmer transformed what could have been a demonstration of pragmatic leadership into a viral moment of political cowardice. Instead of owning the meeting as an example of putting Michigan's interests above partisan politics, she created the impression of someone ashamed to be caught working with a president her party's base despises.
