A pair of unflattering stories about prospective running mates for Joe Biden suggests more are coming. Whether or not they’re the product of opposition research by political rivals is an open question.
Two female governors, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, face scrutiny over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The new criticisms happened almost simultaneously, with both women seemingly violating their state’s lockdown rules for personal benefit.
In April, Lujan Grisham reportedly purchased jewelry from a close friend who runs a store in Albuquerque despite issuing an order just days before, asking that New Mexicans only leave home for food and medical supplies.
“We are in really tough financial times as a state. It mirrors the incredible, personal sacrifices that happen every single day because people have limited their ability to work, telecommuting, and many people, in fact, have lost their jobs,” she said on April 3.
Lujan Grisham’s office maintains that she did not violate the order because the transaction was “entirely contact-free,” as Lujan Grisham had a friend pick up the purchased piece of jewelry at the owner’s home. Republicans in the state noted that curbside pickup from stores wasn’t allowed until May 1, weeks after Lujan Grisham bought the jewelry.
“Our Governor is the latest Democrat to decide that the rules they impose on their citizens to address the COVID-19 pandemic don’t apply to her,” the New Mexico Republican Party tweeted Wednesday. “A bombshell report reveals that the governor violated her own stay-at-home order to stock up on some high-end jewelry.”
Just a day before, Whitmer was forced to address reports that her husband had used her name at a dock to help get their boat placed in the water faster ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
“My husband made a failed attempt at humor last week when checking in with a small business that helps with our boat and dock up north,” Whitmer said during a press conference Tuesday. “Knowing it wouldn’t make a difference, he jokingly asked if being married to me might move him up in the queue. Obviously, with the motorized boating prohibition in our early days of COVID-19, he thought it might get a laugh. It didn’t.”
For weeks, Michiganders have been restricted from engaging in recreational activities such as boating or fishing. Those regulations were recently loosened for the holiday.
The timing of the reports is indicative of the hyperscrutiny the two women face now that Biden has signaled his campaign is looking into them as potential vice presidents. Although there is no evidence that these stories came as a result of opposition research, they are the kind of potential red flags that can make it into the Biden campaign’s background file of the candidate.
During a Wednesday evening fundraiser, Biden told donors that he expects to announce his vice presidential pick around Aug. 1 and said his team was in the process of making “basic cuts” of candidates.
“I want to make sure that wherever I speak to, whoever I have, has some qualities that I don’t possess, as well as is willing to, in fact, tell me the truth, but also do it in a way that is between the two of us between her and me so that they can, in fact, be completely candid with me because I want to have people around me that have strengths and capacities I don’t,” Biden said.
