Michigan's Governor Fears Interference in this Fall's Elections

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer insists Americans are ready for a woman as president. We have not had a woman president yet. I think we will at some point in the near future. What are the risks and opportunities she sees for Democrats in the coming elections? This is a special edition of Up First from NPR News. Gretchen Whitmer is not running for anything right now, but she's thinking about this fall's elections. We know that there will be efforts to compromise the election or to dissuade people from showing up, to scare people away, to threaten people. We cannot let that stand. Our conversation was at the convention center where protesters tried to disrupt Michigan's ballot counting in 2020. Now it is the scene of the Detroit Auto Show, and we also talked through tariffs. Why haven't they crashed the economy in the way the critics predicted? Stay with us for a talk with governor Whitmer. Governor Whitmer, thanks for welcoming us here. Thank you. I'm glad you're here. It's amazing to be at this auto show, and I wanna talk about cars, the auto industry, and tariffs in a moment. I wanna begin with something else. As we're talking, as we're recording this, there have been a number of news developments relating to the Department of Justice, the US Department of Justice. I've got a list here. US officials said that immigration agents have what they called federal immunity as they conduct their duties in places like Minnesota. We learned of an investigation of the Federal Reserve. We learned of an investigation in which a journalist's house was raided and their devices were taken. And, senator Elisa Slotkin of Michigan said she is under investigation for something. What does that all add up to? I think an abuse of power. I think that's pretty clear that's the through line there, and I think it's a a very serious and scary moment in this country. I appreciate those who are raising their voices. I worry about the safety of people who are just out there trying to do the right thing and and protest or do their jobs and cast their votes. But I think it's it's an abuse of power is what it adds up to. Has it gotten to the point where you would have difficulty working with or collaborating with this president, which is something you've tried to do? Oh, listen. I have worked with people I don't agree with my whole political career. This is not new. Mhmm. I work with people that I disagree with 99% of the things on. I owe this to the people of Michigan, and at the end of the day, that's my North Star. So if there's an opportunity for me to do something for the people of Michigan, I'm always gonna take that opportunity, but it never means I'm going to, not live my values and and and be the kind of leader that I think we deserve. …