2028 hopeful Gretchen Whitmer is upsetting her own party with all the Trump appearances

While some Democrats have made a concerted effort to distance themselves from Donald Trump, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has repeatedly appeared with the president in recent weeks — ruffling some feathers within her own party.

Whitmer, a potential 2028 presidential contender who campaigned for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for the 2024 election, has now shared a stage with the Republican president in Michigan weeks after visiting the Oval Office. Some within the battleground state governor’s own party have taken issue with the recent appearances.

“I think the fight-back faction of the Democratic Party is ascendant, and leaders who ignore that risk getting left behind,” Ezra Levin, co-executive director of the liberal organizing group Indivisible, told the Washington Post.

Speaking about the Oval Office visit, Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist in Michigan, told the outlet that while most Michiganders probably understand that working with the president is “part of the job,” the visit wasn’t great for political optics.

“Nationally, you could view this as pretty damaging,” Hemond said. “Obviously the photos, the optics coming out of this meeting, weren’t great.”

The recent appearances didn’t seem to be entirely on her terms. Speaking at Michigan’s Selfridge Air National Guard Base on Tuesday, Trump hailed her as “very effective” before welcoming her onto the stage. He seemingly caught her off guard as she told the crowd that she “hadn’t planned to speak.”

“On behalf of all the military men and women who serve our country and serve so honorably, on behalf of the state of Michigan, I am really damn happy we’re here to celebrate this recapitalization at Selfridge. It’s crucial for the Michigan economy. It’s crucial for the men and women here for our homeland security and our future. So thank you. I am so, so grateful that this announcement was made today, and I appreciate all the work. Thank you," Whitmer said.”

Her comments came after she was pictured shaking hands with the president on the runway after he arrived in Michigan.

After making her remarks on Tuesday alongside Trump, she told the Associated Press that she wasn’t thinking about politics: “My job is to do the right thing for the people of Michigan. I’m not thinking about anything beyond that, and I know it’s hard for people to get their head around.”

“I had to be there because this was a big, important thing for the state of Michigan,” she said. “Now, he is going to go off to the rally and say a lot of things I disagree with, that I’ll fight against, and that’s fine, but, you know, my job is to do everything I can for the people of Michigan.”

Earlier this month, when Whitmer had scheduled a meeting with Trump to discuss the future of the air base, according to the New York Times, the president’s aides brought her into the Oval Office, where she shielded herself from reporters' cameras - in a now infamous photo.

Her office later said the governor was “surprised” that she was ushered into the Oval Office, where Trump signed executive orders, and that “her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event.”

Even Trump clarified her White House visit to Tuesday’s crowd: "That's the reason she came to see me, by the way: to save Selfridge.” He also announced new fighter jets at the base.

Mark Hackel, a Democratic and County Executive of Michigan’s Macomb County, took a different stance from others in his party. He praised her decision to meet with Trump at the White House.

“Her going to White House … on the heels of an election where she was heavily involved campaigning for the Democratic nominee [against Trump], I think, says a lot about her understanding about her role is to be the governor of all, not just her party,” Hackel told the Post.

Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Harris, also defended the Democratic governor. “You won’t catch me complaining about Gretchen Whitmer saving tens of thousands of jobs or bringing in federal relief for people without power in Michigan. That’s the damn job. Get shit done, improve people’s lives—fuck the politics,” he wrote on X.