REPORT: Biden Wanted Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer As Running Mate But Felt Forced To Pick Kamala

Former President Joe Biden reportedly considered choosing Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as his running mate, but “it had to be” Kamala Harris.

In the summer of 2020, Whitmer was tapped to become Biden’s running mate and the governor was ready to take the job, but Biden ended up going in a different direction, The Atlantic reported. The situation called for a “black running mate,” a former senior official to the governor said.

“But I think he wanted it to be Whitmer,” the staffer said.

A former senior adviser to Biden and Harris told the outlet the assessment had “some weight.” At the height of the 2020 presidential campaign, unrest erupted across the country following the death of George Floyd. (RELATED: CHARLIE KIRK: It’s Time to Finish Undoing the Legacy of 2020: Get Rid of the Floyd Monuments)

Whitmer was also facing controversy over her strict response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the time. Later in 2021, Michigan’s governor had to apologize after she was caught dining without a mask indoors with at least a dozen people and violating her own precautions.

Even former First Lady Jill Biden didn’t want her husband to choose Harris. The former First Lady expressed shock at the shots Harris had already taken at Biden while he was on the campaign trail.

“There are millions of people in the United States. Why… do we have to choose the one who attacked Joe?” Jill reportedly said in a 2022 book about the Biden White House.

U.S. President Joe Biden greets Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (2 R) as Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) (L), Sen. Gary Petersn (D-MI) (2 L) and Traverse City Mayor Jim Carruthers watch as Biden arrives at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan, July 3, 2021. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

After Biden dropped out of the 2024 race, some Democrats secretly hoped the governor would want to replace the former president on the ticket, according to The Atlantic.

“I wanted to take a moment and get a lay of the land,” Whitmer said. She told the outlet that she does not want to run for president in 2024.

“It had to be [Harris]” who showed up, Whitmer told the outlet. She added that this was the case because “Joe Biden took so long to make a different decision.”

Biden announced he was withdrawing from the presidential race via an X position in July 2024. He was quarantining in Delaware after testing positive for COVID-19 when the announcement came.

In a separate post about 30 minutes later, Biden endorsed Harris. The former vice president revealed in her recent book about her 2024 campaign that she pushed Biden to support her immediately after her announcement.

“If you want to put me in the strongest position, you have to support me now,” Harris wrote in her book, saying Biden planned to support her the next day.

In 2020, Whitmer claimed that rallies protesting her state’s COVID lockdown policies were “undermining” the response and told Axios that she refused to apologize for the measures. In May that year, she faced criticism following accusations that her husband had flouted restrictions.