Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whom Joe Biden has talked to about joining his ticket, is backtracking on recent comments questioning whether governments should continue funding law enforcement.
Whitmer, elected in 2018 after 14 years as a Democratic state legislator in Michigan, initially sided, at least partially, with far-left “defund the police” advocates, a position that’s gained support after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
“You look at budgets, and they’re focused on policing — they should be focused on education, transportation, access to healthcare, access to skills and leveling the playing field,” Whitmer told The Root Monday. “If you do all those other things, you don’t need all the money that’s going to the police departments. So, yeah, I mean, the spirit of it, I do support that spirit of it.”
Whitmer later clarified her statements to the Detroit Free Press, saying Wednesday, “I don’t believe the police should be defunded.”
“What I hear from all of my friends who are part of this moment and who are leading on the front lines is we have a real need for greater investment in communities,” Whitmer said. “We need to rebuild and level the playing field through better schools and better transportation and access to healthcare, and those are all the critical investments that I absolutely support.”
She then seemed to imply that she’d be open to spending more money on Michigan’s police departments, saying, “We are underinvested in almost every realm in the state government.”
Whitmer, who is a national co-chairwoman of Biden’s presidential campaign, was for some time a leading contender for his running-mate slot.
But her initial comments on Monday placed her at odds with even some of the most left-wing members of the Democratic Party, notably Sen. Bernie Sanders, who bucked the calls of defunding law enforcement by many of his supporters.
“Do I think we should not have police departments in America? No, I don’t. There’s no city in the world that does not have police departments,” said Sanders. “I think we want to redefine what police departments do, give them the support they need to make their jobs better defined. So I do believe that we need well-trained, well-educated, and well-paid professionals in police departments. Anyone who thinks that we should abolish all police departments in America, I don’t agree.”
