Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at Democratic convention: Kamala Harris ‘is us’

• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in speech at Democratic National Convention, said presidential nominee Harris ‘is us’
• Whitmer, calling Republican nominee Donald Trump ‘that man from Mar-A-Lago,’ claimed that he can’t connect with average Americans
• Whitmer was the last of eight Michigan officials to speak at the party convention

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used a Thursday night speech at the Democratic National Convention to argue that presidential candidate Kamala Harris can best lead the country because she knows what it’s like to be an average American. 

“Kamala Harris, she gets us,” Whitmer said during a roughly four-and-a-half minute speech on the convention stage. “She sees us. She is us.”

Speaking on the last night of the convention shortly before Harris, Whitmer said the vice president — who Democrats quickly rallied around after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race — would be “strong enough to come up with a plan, to tell the truth and bring people together” in a crisis. 

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“Right now, before the crisis, is when we get to choose,” Whitmer said. “Why wouldn’t we choose the leader who is tough, tested and a total badass?”

Contrasting Harris with Republican nominee Donald Trump, Whitmer said “that man from Mar-A-Lago” (a reference to when Trump called her “that woman from Michigan”) “doesn’t know you at all.” 

“You think he’s ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out?” Whitmer asked rhetorically. “Hell, you think he’s ever been to a grocery store?”

Whitmer’s comments came as Democrats prepared to hear from Harris, who officially won the Democratic presidential nomination in an online vote tallied Aug. 5. 

The four-day convention served as a ceremonial transition from Biden, who less than a month ago decided to bow out of his reelection effort and endorsed Harris.

In prepared remarks to close out the convention, Harris said if elected, she intended to be “a president for all Americans” who leads and listens and is prepared to fight for the American people. 

"With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past,” she said. “A chance to chart a new way forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”

Of her opponent, Harris said the consequences of putting Trump back in the White House are “extremely serious.”

Michigan, a key swing state critical to both the Harris and Trump campaigns, had a commanding presence at the four-day Democratic convention, with eight state and federal officials taking the stage.

That included Whitmer, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, Attorney General Dana Nessel, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. 

Slotkin, the Democratic candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Debbie Stabenow, focused largely on national security in her speech, arguing that Trump “wants to take us backwards” and “treats our friends as adversaries and our adversaries as friends.”

"So for everyone here and everyone watching, I want you to proudly claim your patriotism,” Slotkin told the crowd. “You are here because you love your country. Do not give an inch to pretenders who wrap themselves in the flag but spit in the face of freedoms it represents."

GOP officials were critical of both Whitmer and Slotkin’s remarks Thursday evening. In a statement, Team Trump Michigan Communications Director Victoria LaCivita said both “are loyal acolytes to whomever advances their political aspirations, without giving what's best for Michiganders a second thought.”

“Kamala Harris' dangerously liberal policies are destroying Michigan's auto jobs, straddling Michiganders with sky-high inflation, and leaving a northern state suffering from southern border crime,” LaCivita said in a statement. 

Swanson, the Genesee County sheriff who also spoke Thursday evening, highlighted Harris’ credentials as a prosecutor and claimed that “crime is down and police funding is up” in his region in part due to efforts to unify the community. 

Harris, he said, is a leader who can “protect, serve and unify.” 

While Harris and other speakers also used the convention to highlight unifying themes, protests over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war pointed to party divisions over the conflict. 

Several Michigan Democrats and the United Workers Union earlier Thursday joined unsuccessful calls for the national party to allow a Palestinian American on the convention stage. 

Party leaders "cannot claim to want peace in Gaza but actively thwart the ability for Palestinians to speak their truth at the DNC," statute House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash wrote on social media. 

"It is shameful that this is even a conversation that needs to be had," he added.

Harris addressed the war in Gaza during her Thursday night speech, lamenting the "heartbreaking" suffering of innocent Palestinian people but pledging she will "always stand up for" Israel's right to defend itself. 

The Biden administration is committed to a peace deal that will ensure Israel is secure, hostages are released and "the Palestinian peel can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."