PoliticsGretchen Whitmer Admits She Regrets Hiding Her Face During Meeting With Donald Trump: 'We All Have Our Moments'
Gretchen Whitmer stated she regrets hiding her face in a photo from her meeting with Donald Trump.
Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, spoke out after she was seen covering her face with a folder in a photo while visiting The White House.
Gretchen Whitmer thought she was having a private meeting with Donald Trump but ended up being in a press conference.
Speaking to Detroit business leaders on April 14, Whitmer addressed the snafu, saying, “Someone asked me, ‘What was going through your mind at that moment?’ And it was, ‘I don’t want my picture taken.’ That’s all it was.”
“I kind of wish I hadn’t put my folder up in front of my face, but whatever,” she added. “I just wrote a book about learning to laugh at yourself, so I’m pretty good at it. And we all have our moments.”
While Whitmer was at the White House to discuss issues related to her state, Democrats were less than thrilled she was present while Donald Trump signed executive orders.
Donald Trump signed executive orders at a press conference in front of Gretchen Whitmer.
A Democratic operative who spoke to NBC News claimed Trump “absolutely played” Whitmer.
“Whitmer hurt her candidacy today,” another Democrat said after she met with Trump. “She looked and sounded nervous in the Oval Office. That visual will stick. So will the image of Trump praising her as he signed executive orders targeting his critics.”
For her part, Whitmer insisted she thought she was going to have a private meeting with Trump but found herself in the midst of a press conference instead.
- 'Grow Up': Donald Trump Criticized for Calling Out White House Reporter for Wearing a Mask During Press Conference
- 'This Is Absurd': Donald Trump Roasted for Awkwardly Standing in One Spot for 5 Minutes During Rally
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Repeatedly Dodges Questions on Whether She'd 'Go After' Democratic Mayors Who Welcome Undocumented Immigrants
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
Gretchen Whitmer's visit with Donald Trump had people talking.
“I put out a statement right as soon as I got out of the Oval Office that said my presence was not an endorsement of any of the actions he took or the comments that were made,” she explained. “I was going in for a meeting, and they walked me into a press conference.”
She noted this was the “farthest” she’d gotten “in terms of a public commitment” for things that are impacting her state.
“It was not where I wanted to be, or planned to be, or would have liked to have been,” she added. “I disagreed with a lot of the stuff that was said and the actions that were taken, but I stayed in the room because I needed to make the case for Michigan, and that’s my job.”
Gretchen Whitmer said she stayed in the room with Donald Trump to 'make the case for Michigan,' which is her job.
Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith backed Whitmer’s actions on ABC News’ This Week on April 13.
“Listen, she’s the governor of Michigan. She has no choice but to do that,” he said of her meeting with Trump. “Anybody that thinks otherwise is just being foolish and immature and childish. The fact is, is that she’s the governor of a state in the United States of America. You need to do business with the federal government. He’s the president of the United States. You don’t get to circumvent him.”
