Former US President Joe Biden preferred Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer as his running mate in 2020 but ultimately “had to choose” Kamala Harris, according to a report cited by The Atlantic.The profile was published on Sunday and focused on Whitmer as a potential 2028 presidential contender. It claimed Biden “wanted it to be Whitmer” after being impressed by her response to President Donald Trump during his first term. However, the political climate following the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests after George Floyd’s death played a key role in the final decision. George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, which sparked global protests against racism and police brutality.“All of this attention seemed like it might add up to something, and by summer 2020, Whitmer was being vetted for vice president,” the report read.It added: “She wasn’t sure about it at first, people familiar with her thinking at the time told me; she struggled to imagine herself as a creature of Washington, DC. She got along well with Biden, though, and by the time he asked her to fly to Delaware for an in-person chat, she was ready to say yes. Biden didn’t ask.”The report also cited a former senior Whitmer staffer who said, “The moment called for a black running mate,” suggesting that Biden’s eventual choice of Harris was shaped by other political considerations. A former adviser to both Biden and Harris was also quoted as saying the claim carried “some weight.”Despite not being selected, Whitmer continued to support the Biden campaign and later confirmed she had gone through the vetting process.“If Joe Biden had called and said, ‘I need you to be my partner and be my running mate,’ I would have said yes,” Whitmer told Fox 2. She added, “This election was that important.”The report also said Whitmer was the first potential candidate to meet Biden in person during the vice-presidential selection process in August 2020.Harris also said that she avoided pushing Biden to step aside earlier because she did not want to appear “self-serving”, adding she remained loyal during the period of growing political pressure.Biden ultimately selected Harris as his running mate in 2020, and she went on to become vice president. She later replaced him as the Democratic nominee in 2024 after Biden withdrew from the race, before losing the election to MAGA leader Donald Trump.
