Gretchen Tries To Hide In Plain Sight At The White House

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Gretchen Whitmer may be on President Trump’s side, mostly, when it comes to tariffs and bringing the auto industry back to Michigan, but that doesn’t mean she’s a fan of standing next or near him, even in the White House.

From Toni’s post, we see this little gem. 

However, that’s not all. It gets even more comical from there. The New York Times helpfully gives us the rest of the story…er picture that speaks volumes. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan stood glumly in the Oval Office, hoping no one would take her picture.

She had not expected to be there, standing in front of the cameras, as President Trump signed executive orders punishing those who opposed his 2020 election lies. Ms. Whitmer, a prominent Democrat seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, had come to the White House to discuss funding for an Air National Guard base near Detroit and aid for thousands of Michiganders who had just been hit by an ice storm.

Then Mr. Trump’s aides surprised her on Wednesday by ushering her into the Oval Office not for her scheduled one-on-one meeting with the president, but for a politically loaded appearance before the press corps. She found herself an unwilling participant in his unending reality show, with photos of her rocketing around group chats of Democratic strategists who wondered what on earth she was doing.

It was a case of a toddler playing the ‘you can’t see me!’ game at its very best. 

What’s even more comical about her attempt to hide in plain sight is the fact that she stepped in it politically. Instead of just OWNING that she was meeting with President Trump to discuss tariffs, the auto industry, and funding for the Air National Guard base, she tried to shrink into the corner and hoped no one would notice she was there. 

In a statement to NBC, a spokesperson for Whitmer said, “The governor was surprised that she was brought into the Oval Office during President Trump’s press conference without any notice of the subject matter. Her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event.”

But Whitmer’s inadvertent photo op hardly seemed like an accident for the White House. Instead, it exposed the risk of trying to engage in bipartisan discussions with an administration that has shown so little interest in doing do. As Trump signed the orders, “the woman from Michigan,” as Trump once dubbed her, shrank into the doorframe like Homer Simpson disappearing into the bushes. Except she didn’t disappear. It only looked like she wanted to.

Yes indeed, she became the meme! 

via giphy.com

And having her staff try to backpedal and assure everyone that she was just an innocent bystander to Trump’s Oval Office commentary isn’t working given the fact that she literally tried to fade into the wallpaper and then played the ‘you can’t see me!’ game like a three-year old. 

What many prominent Democrat pundits are now saying is that not only was her appearance a disaster, but that she was set up and fell for it. 

CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere called the moment a “huge embarrassment,” while CNN host Audie Cornish said bluntly, “This does not look like the politics of resistance.”

Dovere also insinuated that the situation was set up by the Trump team, saying, “She [Gov. Whitmer] went for this meeting with the president, and he used her as a prop.”

Critics said the moment undercut Whitmer’s persona as a rising Democratic leader, especially as Trump praised her on camera, calling her a “very good person” who had done “an excellent job” in Michigan.

Trump and Whitmer have been working together on keeping Selfridge Air Force Base, outside Detroit, open and funded. They’ve also vowed to tackle an invasive fish posing a danger to the ecosystem of the Great Lakes.

In order to succeed with one’s political agenda, reaching out across the aisle is necessary. As the NY Times, in their article on Gretchen’s White House blunder reluctantly admits, President Trump has been talking to a great many Democrat leaders and governors across the country on multiple occasions. Biden did not engage with Republicans…at all. 

As I said, Gretchen Whitmer should’ve just owned her presence in the Oval Office. Instead, she turned herself into a meme. 

If you can’t take the heat Gretchen, you probably shouldn’t go anywhere near the kitchen. 

Feature Photo Credit: Gretchen Whitmer in Taiwan March 2024 via Wikimedia, cropped and modified

The post Gretchen Tries To Hide In Plain Sight At The White House appeared first on Victory Girls Blog.



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