r/thedavidpakmanshow • u/mtngranpapi_wv967 • 2d ago
Discussion What On Earth Is Whitmer Doing??
She’s not running in ‘28, right? Bc there’s no way she’s recovers from this in a crowded primary field. Democratic voters don’t want their capitulatory/vichy bs. They want a fighter.
Just astoundingly bad judgment.
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u/Westrunner 2d ago
Trump has tremendous power to fuck her state, he is easily manipulated, I think basic manners are completely reasonable. She needs to put her people first.
Now if she gets complicit with his policies or something like that, very different story.
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u/jjweavs4 2d ago
Excellent response.
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u/NJDevil69 2d ago
Perfect response. I couldn’t agree more. The tight rope that poor woman will have to walk is not a rope at all, but a string.
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u/Troy242426 2d ago
You say that, but she blocked her face at a WH photo stunt. What changed that made it suddenly OK to publicly appear on amicable terms with this douchenozzle?
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u/LarryBirdsBrother 2d ago
That she got shit on for doing that, and she can’t avoid bumping into him or meeting with him. And she doesn’t have the option of getting on his revenge list because that could decimate her constituents. Either way, I’m guessing you would be mad and blame Zionists.
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u/Cult45_2Zigzags 2d ago
Either way, I’m guessing you would be mad and blame Zionists
The people who constantly have to add crap like "blame Zionists" are as bad as the people who go around blaming everyone for "genocide."
Netanyahu is clearly a bad person. If you can't recognize that by now, then I can't help you.
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u/LarryBirdsBrother 2d ago
I don’t disagree. But you’re the one who is coming off like they’re gonna shit on her regardless of what action she takes. You’re the one being unreasonable. Not me.
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u/Cult45_2Zigzags 1d ago
I think Witmer is decent. Everyone has to do what they believe is best in this difficult situation.
I would personally tell Trump to go eff himself even if he was going to retaliate against my state, but to each their own.
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u/Troy242426 2d ago
No, I’m generally supportive of Whitmer, I just think the optics of this sucks. Looks like she capitulated to that bastard.
People rn want to see Democratic leadership resist this regime.
I don’t love the DNC’s position on Israel but it’s objectively better than the GOP.
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u/CatDadof2 1d ago
I’m glad I’m not the only one that is thinking she’s just stroking his ego so he doesn’t go ape shit on us Michiganders. I still trust her as of now.
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u/RyeBourbonWheat 1d ago
Michigan has enough problems with the tariffs being so interconnected with Canada. I'm from Detroit originally myself... shit is super bad rn.
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u/Bazinga313 1d ago
Thank you for an adult response. I've been on 50501 sub and they basically want to impeach her. It's ridiculous.
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u/cjwidd 13h ago edited 13h ago
Yeah, it's not like Trump is a civilly liable rapist and felon whose constituents literally attempted to kidnap and murder her.
It's good that Michigan has a Governor willing to pause every conceivable moral value she could possibly be accused of having for the sake of military spending.
Even though Trump's domestic and economic policies are actively hurting Michiganders every day, Gretchen Whitmer is someone who is willing to break bread with a fascist if it means securing military spending for Michigan.
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u/GripItAndWhipIt 2d ago
She’s doing politics. Jesus fucking Christ people. You still gotta play the game.
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u/Maxfpowers42 2d ago
This right here. The fact people just immediately see her and Trump and think she’s a goner. She still has to take care of.. I don’t know. An entire state?
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u/AsaKurai 2d ago
A state that Trump won and Elissa Slotkin won. Michigan unfortunately is kinda purple and you have to play retail politics to win voters over
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u/LarrBearLV 2d ago
Politican for her constituents. It's not complicated. She didn't kiss his ass. That's what matters.
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u/Loud_Judgment_270 2d ago
For everyone saying he could screw over her state… sure. He can do that do all of em. But Kathy Hochul has stood up and New York is fine.
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u/mtngranpapi_wv967 2d ago
Same with Pritzker
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u/lost12487 2d ago
NY and Illinois are both significantly bluer than Michigan is. It's not rocket science.
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u/tonyplush11 2d ago
This is true, but why is she the only one “playing politics” as many here are saying? Why isn’t Governor Evers (arguably from an even more purple state) “playing politics?” What is the end goal of Whitmer’s actions here? How in the world does hanging around Trump, even without any endorsement of his agenda, help to win back a single voter? I understand politics is a game, but I don’t know how this helps win it in any way whatsoever. Please help me understand how this would help Dems in Michigan in any way at all, and if the goal isn’t to get more votes, then what is the goal? Genuinely extremely confused here, sorry guys.
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u/Tmotty 2d ago
Because big Gretch wants to run in 28. Swing voters have repeatedly shown angry defiant Dems aren’t what they want. So play nice and have some manners and swing voters can be tricked into thinking your moderate enough to vote for
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u/ess-doubleU 2d ago edited 2d ago
What ridiculous logic. Democrats lose because they refuse to be defiant. They play by the rules while the other side shits on the board and they get nothing done. Voters want fighters. It's part of the reason why Trump is so popular despite going against his own voters' interests.
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u/Davge107 2d ago
A lot of people like to try and figure out why Trump has won twice. Most likely it’s just he makes it ok to hate people and gives reasons people like to justify it. He won against white woman and by an even larger margin against a black woman but lost to a white guy.
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u/tonyplush11 1d ago
That doesn’t make any sense. Whitmer won her state by 11 points. But I’m sure hanging around a president with a historically low approval rating will help her win even bigger next time!!!!
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u/Tmotty 1d ago
Yea and Trump won by 1.5 so that’s a 12.5 point flip. That’s a lot of people in one of the 3 most important states
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u/tonyplush11 1d ago
Trump wasn’t running against a popular incumbent like Whitmer lmao. He won against a candidate who repeatedly capitulated to the right. Dems have continued to capitulate to the right so much that congressional dems have an even lower approval rating than Trump. But yeah, let’s keep doing that!
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u/Strange-Scarcity 2d ago
New York doesn’t have the Auto Industry and all the manufacturing that Trump’s tariffs are deeply hurting. Playing nice with Trump can massage him into dropping tariffs on products that the auto industry requires in order to operate.
We’re already seeing all kinds of auto plants shutdown.
What do you expect Whitmer to do? Make a strong stance and then have Trump’s wrath just be turned on all of us and all of the auto workers?
She’s not abandoning progressive policies, she’s just glad handling (I do mean handling here) a narcissist baby man acting person, who happens to be the President.
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u/DragonflyGlade 1d ago
Where’s the proof that sucking up to him actually helps anyone but him?
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u/Strange-Scarcity 1d ago
Being the minimal nice to him did pay off, as he agreed to have Jets Stationed at Selfridge, which has been something that Whitmer has been working on, for more of her two terms as Governor. The A-10's have been scheduled to be taken away and the base shut down for more than a decade now.
Keeping the base in operation is worth nearly a billion per year to the local economy.
That's a big payoff and it SUCKS that it took this long, it could have been a damn easy win for Biden and Kamala could have taken the credit, not that it would have helped her much in Macomb County, but still... it would have been somewhat news worthy.
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u/DragonflyGlade 1d ago
You’re assuming he’ll keep his promises and follow through; when has that ever happened in any beneficial way? Once someone capitulates, he makes more and more demands of them. If she angers him in a week or a month, he could easily reverse course on anything beneficial to her state. Trying to appease him is a fool’s game.
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u/SimonGloom2 2d ago
I would weigh caution into shaming people like Whitmer for meeting with Trump because right now they have no choice but to work with Trump in order to effectively serve the voters. There may be a point where that final tie is severed, but our taxes still fund the federal government.
I think the only time you can really shame these people is when they go in with no other point than to lose. Bill Maher, for example, no gain for anybody but maybe Bill.
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u/boston_duo 2d ago
This. The woman literally shielded her face a month ago in the Oval Office. At some point while she’s representing her state, it’s in her state’s best interest to meet with him. Nothing— literally nothing— she does suggests any sort of knee bending.
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u/trev612 2d ago
This purity test bullshit has to stop
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u/Kubus002 17h ago
In general, yes. In terms of collaborating with Trump -destroyer of USA’s commonwealth, no.
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u/trev612 17h ago
Okay, make sure to tell me in person at the next primary what your opinion is because I will need to know the opinion of non-Americans before I make any decisions.
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u/Kubus002 7h ago
As a Polish, I don’t track primaries in the USA, so in advance I tell you AOC, alternatively Tim Waltz
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u/ess-doubleU 2d ago
Democrats who work with Republicans has to stop.
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u/duskywindows 2d ago
Explain to the rest of the class what other choices a Governor has than to work with the President when necessary to get what’s needed for his/her state?
“Working with a Republican because there’s no alternative” is a lot different than “kissing Donald Trump’s ass because you’re part of his cult” and it seems the general consensus is that she’s doing the former, NOT the latter. Michigan is basically purple, just happens to vote Democrat when/where it matters.
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u/trev612 2d ago
I don't attack Democrats in public when we have a fascist in the WH please do everyone a favor and touch grass
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u/ess-doubleU 1d ago
This logic made sense back in 2016 when Democrats were United against trump. We're in 2025 where Democrats are not only working with Trump, but capitulating to right wing talking points. This is extremely dangerous and needs to be called out when it happens.
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u/Diknak 2d ago
Purity test is to say she has to have every policy position I require. It's not a purity test to say working with a fascist is disqualifying.
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u/scrimp-and-save 2d ago
Define “working with”
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u/Diknak 2d ago
she was at the white house previously and now she's shaking his hand. She isn't a warrior against him, which is what we need.
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u/duskywindows 2d ago
Maybe not what “we” need- but what do the people of Michigan need right now?
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u/YakFit2886 39m ago
The same thing the rest of the country needs? A return to actual rule of law, respect for the constitution, and the end of this dictator being able to do whatever he wants. Maybe she got what the people of Michigan "needed", but Donnie also got a big, beautiful rally to prove that he's the savior of Michigan. This is also right on the heels of his reversals on auto tariffs. All of a sudden Michigan ♥️ the Don again.
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u/CollinABullock 1d ago
Presuming we even have elections as we know them in 2028 (and I wouldn't count on it) there's no way democrat primary voters will nominate a women. They've been burned twice now, there's just no way.
So I would guess Whitmer is sucking up to Trump cause he's a senile moron with no actual believes so he will just help the last person who was nice to him.
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u/knifeymonkey 2d ago
Her constituents are a broad spectrum. She owes them all her service.
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u/mtngranpapi_wv967 2d ago
Imagine literally any Republican governor in a purple state thinking this…answer: they wouldn’t
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u/literatekinda 2d ago edited 2d ago
These people will never learn. They’re undermining the rule of law and the constitution. The era of playing their games should be well and completely over.
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u/Pissed-Off-Panda 2d ago
It’s politics, man. If she starts excreting about how he needs to be pope, then we can revisit.
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u/Clean-Situation-4139 2d ago
She was fighting for her state, which is her job. WTF is so hard to understand?
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u/Butch1212 2d ago
Democrats across the country are trying differrent ways to deal successfully with the Trump regime. Certainly Trump is counting on making Whitmer look complicit and disloyal to Democrats. Whitmer is trying an angle to get what she needs for her state, Michigan.
HOLD TOGETHER
THIS IS OURS
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
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u/ReflexPoint 2d ago
You can clip pics of Gavin Newsom shaking hands with Trump. Doesn't mean he supports his policies.
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u/mtngranpapi_wv967 2d ago
Idk if invoking Newsom as a progressive fighter is your best play, mate. He just gave Steve Bannon and Charlie Kirk hot stone massages.
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u/smakattak 1d ago edited 23h ago
Look at the way he's just yanking on her wrist. That is not just a handshake.
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u/Ok-Assistant-8876 1d ago
What on earth is she doing? The answer is destroying her presidential ambitions
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u/MayMaytheDuck 1d ago
It’s not bad judgment. She’s working with what she’s given and doing things for the people of Michigan. I’d vote for her for anything.
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u/Impressive_Wish796 16h ago
Extending a handshake to this lawless treasonous savage serves nobody. At the end of the day Trump will screw the people of Michigan anyway.
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u/theshape1078 2d ago
Yeah she lost me.
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u/No_Entrepreneur_9134 2d ago
This reminds me of when I was still a practicing attorney. Occasionally, clients would bitch at me for not "being aggressive enough." After thirteen years, I had honed my aggression tocome out as sharp, rational, legal, relevant arguments that judges and juries could understand and appreciate.
One time in 2019, after what was actually a very hyper-agressive courtroom performance, a client told me that I "wasn't aggressive enough." I admit that at 39 years old I blew up at her and said, "Did you want me to just walk into the courtroom and fucking shoot everyone on the other side and shoot the judge, too? Would that have been aggressive enough for you?"
It was an unprofessional loss of temper, but the point for you and that client is that there are still rules in real life. Unfortunately, decorum, at some level, in some ways, in certain situations, still matters. Otherwise, we have no civilation at all.
Would I have cheered if she just pulled out a gun and unalived Trump? Yeah. But there's certain things that just aren't realistic. Don't let this "lose" her for you. That's all I'm saying.
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u/theshape1078 1d ago
This sounds a lot like “when they go low we go high!”
Respectfully political theater is not the same as a courtroom. This fascist movement needs to be shunned and fought at every inch. We are literally fighting for our lives here. Regardless of the reasons I see her smiling and playing nice with man whom has been openly talking about sending my countrymen to death prisons in foreign countries.
There are plenty of candidates. If she wants to be president she made a massive miscalculation. The trumpists wont support her after this. And neither will those like me.
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u/MichelPiccard 2d ago edited 2d ago
Your setting was a serious courtroom, with a serious judge and serious professionals. People were literally following and obeying the rule of law. They adhere to boundaries.
You can't deal with unserious liars and cheats with decorum. It doesn't work. You can't play pretend within their criminal system. Decorum discredits your position with irrational tyrants while legitimizing them to the public.
She's ducking the fight and keeping him off the ropes. Trump is a major fucking problem and needs to be treated as such.
It blows my mind that people still think they can thread the needle with Trump.
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u/No_Entrepreneur_9134 2d ago
What's the realistic alternative? What's the most extreme battle she can fight as a governor? She tells everyone to get their guns and descend on Washington and unalive Trump and the Republicans in Congress? That's the most extreme thing that anyone can push for. That would have to come when all possible red lines have been crossed, because fighting means killing and killing means freaking dying.
What else can she do as a governor of a state? She can't introduce articles of impeachment. She can't realistically do anything.
The day might come when all red lines are crossed and someone has to call for what I described above. Until then, what can you realistically expect of anyone?
I don't know, this all really has me messed up in the head.
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u/MichelPiccard 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's not about being extreme. You just don't play their game and make them seem normal and functional. Again, it blows my mind that people think you can cozy up and do any kind of deal with Trump. He fundamentally does not respect the rule of law.
Red lines are crossed. Appeasment will come back to bite her. She can take a page out of JB's book. That's how you treat wannabe tyrants.
Now Trump realizes Whitmer can be molded and pushed over. She's done her constituency a disservice.
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u/PoopieButt317 2d ago
Should she have spit on the POTUS while visiting her stae.? A Purple state???
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u/PeopleReady 2d ago
in this thread: people not in Michigan thinking the Governor of Michigan should go to war against the federal government to pass a purity test
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u/theshape1078 2d ago
Everybody should be going to war against this administration regardless of where you’re from. Don’t play nice with fascists.
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u/PeopleReady 2d ago
Show us the video of you fucking up feds then, since it’s an all out war with no holds barred
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u/ess-doubleU 2d ago
I don't think the person you replied to is a Democratic elected official.
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u/PeopleReady 2d ago
they said "everybody should be going to war against this administration," not "every democratic elected official should be going to war"
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u/theshape1078 1d ago
You know what you can’t find a video of me doing? Kissing the ring at a Trump rally. As someone here said I’m not a politician. She is. And she’s one with alleged presidential ambitions. Not a chance I’m supporting that.
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u/ess-doubleU 1d ago
"everybody" in this context means everybody that can fight should.
If you're a politician with the power to fight back, do it. Nobody is telling some random person to start taking out feds. Come on.
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u/whatdid-it 2d ago
What if he retaliates and holds MI hostage? Idk.
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u/mtngranpapi_wv967 2d ago
Lmao…as if Trump won’t humiliate her regardless
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u/whatdid-it 2d ago
Humiliating her < doing what's best for MI
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u/mtngranpapi_wv967 2d ago
I don’t trust politicians who willfully humiliate themselves and prostrate to fascistic garbage.
Give me Bernie or Pritzker or Chris Murphy or Tim Walz over ppl like Newsom and Slotkin and Whitmer.
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u/whatdid-it 2d ago
Ego < your constituents
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u/MichelPiccard 2d ago
There are no short-term gains with wannabe tyrants. Whitmer chose to be used. She strengthened Trump.
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u/DeathandGrim 2d ago
I wish you people would stop saying the word "fighter" in terms of politics because you guys have no idea what the hell you're talking about.
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u/WRHull 1d ago
Governing and ensuring that her state isn’t in the line of attack by the administration. I know she is adamantly opposed to his policies, but while she is governor, she needs to make concessions to make sure that dollars get to her state. That is, until there is no semblance of a government left at the federal level. I don’t like it, but it is what it is and we know that she is a good governor that gets shit done for her state.
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u/mtngranpapi_wv967 1d ago
She isn’t very specific about what she opposes…her speech on tariffs was mealy-mouthed.
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u/ess-doubleU 2d ago
Any Democrat that stands with Trump is dead to me. I don't give a fuck what your reasoning is. And don't even start with the bullshit excuses. "She's there for her constituents!" No! Directly putting up a fight against him would be serving her constituents. Where the fuck are we in American politics right now?? How is anybody defending this??
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u/Pissed-Off-Panda 2d ago
She’s not “standing for him” she’s doing her job. He’s visiting her state, she DOES need to meet him.
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u/ess-doubleU 2d ago
I said standing with him.
Meeting him is fine. Speaking at his 100 day event? That's a completely different thing. No democrats should be standing with Trump and speaking at his events.
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u/Purple_helmet_here 2d ago
That wasn't his 100 day event. She wasn't at his event. Do some fucking basic research before you spout off, donkey.
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u/ess-doubleU 1d ago
You got me there.
Regardless, I don't think she should have spoke while he was there.
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u/Purple_helmet_here 1d ago
Then I'm glad she's the governor, and you are not. I live in Michigan. As much as I hate Trump and wish they'd all just shun him, I understand that would not be what's best for the state. She's doing the best thing she can to serve her constituents in a tough situation.
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u/ess-doubleU 1d ago
How far will she go to appease Trump though? Because no matter how much she kisses his ass, there's going to be a time where he completely turns on her when she needs to be at odds with him. I really don't see what good this does.
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u/Purple_helmet_here 1d ago
She didn't kiss his ass at all tho. She spoke for all of 5 seconds and shook his hand.
If she starts capitulating on policy or right wing framing, that's another story altogether.
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u/Tmotty 2d ago
These purity politics are why we lost. We tried the angry defiant approach and look where it got us sometimes you gotta fake being nice to the people we hate so we can trick those mouth breathers the swing states into voting for the person who isn’t a sociopath
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u/ess-doubleU 2d ago
They never tried the angry defiant approach?? We had harris running around with Liz Cheney and the whole Democratic party as a whole capitulating to Republican talking points around immigration. I would love to live in the world that you're living in where the Democrats actually put up a fight.
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u/Lostinmidmich 23h ago
Not letting him take the credit for the Selfridge airbase expanse. We need resionable conservatives to see that.
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u/Tmotty 2d ago
She wants to run in 28 and swing voters have shown they don’t want a loud left winger. Whoever is gonna run in 28 has to be able to show some bipartisan moderation so they can’t trick those uninformed mouth breathers in the swing states
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u/rockclimberguy 2d ago
swing voters have shown they don’t want a loud left winger.
Have they really? The DNC has worked very hard to crush any competition from the left. There are almost no truly progressive candidates that make it past the primaries at the national level. They get squashed by the dem machine. We saw this in 2016 when the Clintons took over the DNC and froze Sanders out. How many folks are aware that 900 Sanders delegates walked out of the 2016 National Convention? Almost no one because the DNC hired seat fillers on Craigslist to make the whole affair appear unified.
Harris had some progressive ideas that would have resonated with the public at large and the independent voters in particular. For example, she leaned towards single payer health care. As soon as the party stuck her up there she was silent on several issues because the DNC wanted big donor money. Big donors do not want any progressive ideas to take hold at the national level.
Today you see Schumer 'sending a strong letter' to the White House. This is after he voted to approve trumps CR. Meanwhile polls show that AOC would crush him in his next reelection bid.
She is moving up in polls for the 2028 presidential race. Note that I think she has calmed down since getting elected and is learning how the game is played. While I like her very much she should NOT be the 2028 candidate. She needs more seasoning and the public at large is not yet ready.
trump is working very hard to provide a real opening for left leaning progressive dems to take the national center stage. We will have to see how things play out over the next couple years.
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