MILWAUKEE — Former Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon warned that adding Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the presidential race would be a bad move for Democrats but a “great” move for the Republican Party.
Rumors have been circulating in recent weeks that President Biden might bow to pressure and drop out of the 2024 presidential race, with some viewing Whitmer as the front-runner to replace him. Dickson told Fox News Digital that he’d heard rumors that Whitmer was the front-runner to be Kamala Harris’ running mate, calling it a “shocking” idea for Republicans but also a “great idea.”
““I think that’s really great for us Republicans because I know she has big weaknesses when it comes to debates and it’s going to be a big challenge for her to take on Senator J.D. Vance and show the country what kind of person she is.”
Biden has called on Americans to “de-escalate political tensions” following the assassination attempt on President Trump, but Republicans have criticized his campaign for launching more negative attacks since the assassination attempt. Whitmer has been criticized by the Trump campaign for inciting violence in 2020. I hit her This was because she appeared in front of the camera with the numbers “8645” written in bubble letters resting next to a potted plant on the coffee table behind her.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been rumored to be a possible candidate to replace President Biden if he steps down. (Getty Images)
At the time, the Trump campaign accused her of encouraging assassination, because “86” is an abbreviation for killing someone.
““She’s always constantly gone out and told people that so-and-so is a threat,” Dixon said. “Here’s the threat. There’s a threat to reproductive rights and all of that is going to be taken away. But if you’re talking about ’86, ’45, you have to remember that she went on national television and literally called for Donald Trump to be assassinated, with a TV right behind her for the whole country to see. I can’t think of anything worse than a sitting governor going out and calling for the assassination of a sitting president.”
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) conference at the Hilton Midtown on September 19, 2023 in New York City. (John Nasion/WireImage)
Whitmer, long touted as a Democratic option if Biden withdraws, would perform best if facing off against Trump: A Fox News poll in November found the Democratic governor’s approval rating, within the former president’s margin of error, with 46% of registered voters compared with 48% for Trump.
Whitmer, a two-term governor in a key Midwestern battleground state, may be an attractive option for Democrats, but she has reportedly expressed discomfort with her name being thrown in the mix as a possible replacement for Biden. Responding to a recent Politico report that the Michigan governor warned the Biden campaign after the debate that Biden no longer had a chance to win her home state, Whitmer took to social media to claim that anyone who thinks she would make such a claim is a “liar.”
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President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn to board Marine One before departing the White House on December 8, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to Governor Whitmer’s office for comment but did not receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.
