Speaker 1: Native Lamb Pod is the production of iHeartRadio in partnership
Speaker 1: with Resent Choice Media.
Speaker 2: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, welcome, welcome.
Speaker 3: Well, welcome home everyone.
Speaker 4: This is our mini pod. Uh, this is Native lamp Pod.
Speaker 3: Of course, I'm your host, Angela Raie with hosts Tiffany
Speaker 3: Cross and Andrew Gillham, and today we are thrilled to
Speaker 3: have a guest who's a returning guest. Actually, the last
Speaker 3: time we spoke with her was at the d NC
Speaker 3: convention over the summer.
Speaker 5: But you were trying to I think you're trying on lipstick.
Speaker 5: Sound like big gretch or something like that.
Speaker 3: Yep from the lit bar, shout out to Melissa Butler.
Speaker 3: We are we are here now to just welcome her
Speaker 3: back to the show. Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is a
Speaker 3: forty night governor of Michigan, thank you so much for
Speaker 3: joining us today.
Speaker 6: Hey, it's good to be with you.
Speaker 2: I love that boss, Lady lip color.
Speaker 1: We love Melissa Butler, as Angela said, is a governor.
Speaker 1: You've been in the news a lot this week, and
Speaker 1: I want to kick us off with not necessarily the
Speaker 1: top story, but definitely a big story.
Speaker 2: If I think for a lot of our listeners.
Speaker 1: Michigan, as you well know, has more than one point
Speaker 1: five million black residents. That's more than Louisiana, more than
Speaker 1: Alabama and South Carolina. Can you talk our viewers through
Speaker 1: your decision in deciding to not endorse you are running me?
Speaker 1: Garland Gilchris is the lieutenant governor and is now running
Speaker 1: for governor of Michigan.
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, you know what, the race for governors kicked
Speaker 6: off pretty early. I'm grateful that I have had such
Speaker 6: a phenomenal partner in Garland. He is really a star
Speaker 6: and a great leader and has been an amazing partner.
Speaker 6: You know, I know enough to know that there's a
Speaker 6: long road ahead, and he and I've had a lot
Speaker 6: of very i think honest conversations over the years, and
Speaker 6: you know, I think he if he's successful in winning
Speaker 6: that race, he'll be a great governor. But I've also
Speaker 6: served with a lot of the people that are running,
Speaker 6: and so he and I he understands. But we've been
Speaker 6: we've been close, and I'll continue to I think be
Speaker 6: a good partner to him too.
Speaker 1: I just want to ask the sorry and a quick
Speaker 1: follow up, So are you concerned or how concerned are
Speaker 1: you that by not endorsing your running mate and Lieutenant
Speaker 1: Governor Garland Gilchris, a black man in Michigan, How concerned
Speaker 1: are you that the Republican Party might try to use
Speaker 1: John James, who is a black man running and he
Speaker 1: could potentially be the only black person on the ticket
Speaker 1: given the sizeable population of residents who are black in
Speaker 1: your state.
Speaker 6: Well, the end of the day, to be successful run
Speaker 6: for governor, you know, you've got to be connected to
Speaker 6: the people. You've got to be everywhere in Michigan. You've
Speaker 6: got to have a vision that creates opportunity for everyone
Speaker 6: who calls this great stay at home. And you know,
Speaker 6: I think that the leugenant governor's resume is going to
Speaker 6: be a powerful, powerful thing for him to run on.
Speaker 6: But you know, I also know sitting governors, lieutenant governors,
Speaker 6: if you look historically, it's it's not always been an
Speaker 6: asset to have the governor have your you know, get
Speaker 6: their endorsement. You got to stand on your own two legs.
Speaker 6: And I think that's something that Garland's gonna gonna earn,
Speaker 6: and he's going to do it on his own terms.
Speaker 6: And it can't always be I think an extension of
Speaker 6: my administration, and so I think he's after asking for
Speaker 6: council and we've been great friends and we're on this,
Speaker 6: you know, we we have an understanding here.
Speaker 4: I am.
Speaker 3: I'm fascinated by this too, Governor, because our good friend
Speaker 3: and brother sitting right here, Andrew Gillum ran for governor
Speaker 3: of Florida. And I remember we've known each other a
Speaker 3: long time, called each other's sibling a long time. But
Speaker 3: I remember when he was running, he was the he
Speaker 3: was not the Institution's candidate. And I'm really fascinated by
Speaker 3: this parallel of what the party does sometimes in states
Speaker 3: and how the party overall and what it does with
Speaker 3: candidates and how it treats black people. You're seeing a
Speaker 3: lot of this happening all over the country where people
Speaker 3: are like, I'm kind of off the party.
Speaker 4: There's a rest thing happening.
Speaker 3: But also it's like we're going to organize, but now
Speaker 3: we're not organizing with y'all. Like all of that is
Speaker 3: kind of happening. And I'll tell you there was this
Speaker 3: tipping point for Andrew. And Andrew, I want you to
Speaker 3: tell your own story, but there's this tipping point for
Speaker 3: Andrew and the race where Andrew went to sit in
Speaker 3: as he did when he was the Florida A and
Speaker 3: M SGA president, and people were reminded by the fact
Speaker 3: that he's.
Speaker 4: One of us, you know.
Speaker 3: And so my point in raising any of that is
Speaker 3: when you have someone that's given their life to politics,
Speaker 3: it was a student government body president, like all of
Speaker 3: these things, going up to a gubernatorial race, and then
Speaker 3: that same party jump ship, whether it's in the form
Speaker 3: of its biggest influence, there's biggest leaders for God, say,
Speaker 3: you're on the list for you know who should run
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty eight, right, So we I'm struggling with this,
Speaker 3: and Andrew. I'm actually instead of asking a question, I
Speaker 3: want to punt to you to ask like, how does
Speaker 3: it build and not be supported by the institution And
Speaker 3: what should a black candidate's expectations be from an institution
Speaker 3: that they've given so much to To Tip's point earlier.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I I the governor knows this from
Speaker 5: living experience right now, in this very moment.
Speaker 2: I know it.
Speaker 5: Obviously having been a candidate, been loyal to the Democratic Party,
Speaker 5: but political positions are a little different than just loyalty
Speaker 5: to the party. There is an important set of decision
Speaker 5: making that goes into the governor's decision to pursue governorship reelection,
Speaker 5: especially in the wake of the kind of attacks that
Speaker 5: met you there. But you also did something else that
Speaker 5: I think it's important to distinguish between what the Democratic
Speaker 5: Party does to a person and what happens in the
Speaker 5: process of governing, and that is you making the disc
Speaker 5: decision that of all the people in your state, of
Speaker 5: all the electors that you've worked with over your tenured
Speaker 5: and storied experience, Garland was the right person for you
Speaker 5: in the instance that you would be incapacitated or in
Speaker 5: some way unable to fulfill your responsibilities, that this was
Speaker 5: your individual and most perfect decision to say, this is
Speaker 5: going to be the guy who I turned to and
Speaker 5: who this state turns to in that event. And so, Governor,
Speaker 5: I'd actually love't I didn't anticipate we start with the
Speaker 5: politics of your home state, but appropriate given that we've
Speaker 5: got so many michigan and listeners. But I'd love to
Speaker 5: hear from you what made you choose Garland and what
Speaker 5: would you say best recommends him for the position. And
Speaker 5: I would argue that if any other candidate asked you,
Speaker 5: you know, for a similar answer that you could offer such.
Speaker 5: But in this instance you made the important choice of
Speaker 5: saying this is the guy if not me.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know so first, so say, let's not give
Speaker 6: the Democratic Party too much credit here, right, I mean,
Speaker 6: let's not assume that a party actually annoyings anyone with
Speaker 6: any great success, especially when there's a field. Lord knows.
Speaker 6: I served in the legislature for fourteen years as the
Speaker 6: minority leader. I ran for governor. There were two people
Speaker 6: who never ran for anything before. Democratic Party didn't support me.
Speaker 6: I had to go out and earn it. And I
Speaker 6: think that that's as sometimes it doesn't feel real good,
Speaker 6: to be honest, it probably made me a better candidate
Speaker 6: going into the general election because I had to take
Speaker 6: it seriously. I had to fight for every vote. I
Speaker 6: had to show up in every community. I had to
Speaker 6: make sure that, you know, I didn't take anyone or
Speaker 6: any community for granted. And I think that's really important
Speaker 6: if you're going to be successful, especially in a state
Speaker 6: like Michigan. It's ten million people. You know, it's a
Speaker 6: diverse state. It's the most diverse swing state in the country.
Speaker 6: We have a tendency to go back and forth. Eight
Speaker 6: years of a Democratic governor, eight years of a Republican governor.
Speaker 6: You know, I mean, you can't make any assumptions.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 6: When I went through the process and I won that primary,
Speaker 6: and it was hard, and we had a lot of
Speaker 6: establishment people and institution who were not supporting me, I
Speaker 6: turned it on its head and I won. And then
Speaker 6: I went to go pick my lieutenant governor, and everyone
Speaker 6: wanted to tell me who they thought that person should be.
Speaker 6: Should be this person, it should be from this side
Speaker 6: of Detroit, it should be you know, like everyone had opinions,
Speaker 6: and yet I had to find the person that was
Speaker 6: going to be a good partner who could step in
Speaker 6: if God forbid, they needed to, who I think had
Speaker 6: the same shared set of values. And you know, going
Speaker 6: through that process, I had a lot of great people
Speaker 6: from whom to choose, but Garland rose to the top
Speaker 6: because he was talented, he's young, he's got energy, He
Speaker 6: was a great counterpoint. Has a very different lived experience
Speaker 6: than I do, which makes sure that it'll help inform
Speaker 6: better decisions.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 6: It is part of why I appointed the most diverse
Speaker 6: cabinet in Michigan's history, part of why. You know, you
Speaker 6: look to my appointees from the bench. You know, Kira
Speaker 6: Harris Bolden, the first black woman on Michigan Supreme Court.
Speaker 6: I got to put her on the Supreme Court because
Speaker 6: we had a vacancy that was unexpected. So, you know,
Speaker 6: I take that very seriously. I think that that is
Speaker 6: really important and really healthy. As we went through COVID,
Speaker 6: you know, I just always remind people it was because
Speaker 6: I had Garland, but also jon A. Caldoon, who was
Speaker 6: our chief medical executive, a black woman who was an
Speaker 6: er doc in the city of Detroit practicing during the pandemic,
Speaker 6: who said, when forty percent of our deaths are black
Speaker 6: Michiganders and fourteen percent of our populations, we got to intervene.
Speaker 6: We've got work to do. And but for her leadership,
Speaker 6: others wanted to wait for studies and data which wasn't
Speaker 6: even being collected. We'd lost a whole lot more people.
Speaker 6: But because of that, we did a lot of great work.
Speaker 6: We created the Racial Sparity's Task Force, and other states
Speaker 6: emulated that. The Biden administration emulated that because it made
Speaker 6: a difference. And but for jon Ay Kaldoon having an
Speaker 6: empowered seye at the table and Garland Gilcrest, who was
Speaker 6: the co chair of our Black Leadership Advisory Council. Black
Speaker 6: for sure, we would not have been in a position
Speaker 6: to make those important decisions that literally saved people's life.
Speaker 5: I appreciate that, Governor, and you actually get to I
Speaker 5: think one of the underlying questions that bothered the heck
Speaker 5: out of me these days, and that's this idea that
Speaker 5: any position that you find a black person is one
Speaker 5: that had to be compromised, greased up, and pushed through,
Speaker 5: you know, around peg as a square hole. And just
Speaker 5: in the examples that you gave your individual and personal
Speaker 5: decision to choose your replacement, and your decision and the
Speaker 5: nations and the world's moments of greatest crises to find
Speaker 5: the resolve, the skill set and the talent you needed
Speaker 5: in uh uh qualified individuals who provided that to you.
Speaker 5: And Governor, in light of all of the attacks that
Speaker 5: we see coming legal, philosophical, but frankly spiritually, folks who
Speaker 5: had given so much sacrifice, so much finding themselves yet
Speaker 5: once again put to the back of the line weight. Wait, wait,
Speaker 5: the change is coming. I wonder how do you balance
Speaker 5: your position on and your well born experience of diversity
Speaker 5: being a great strength of where you are and in
Speaker 5: serving the people of your state. How do you do
Speaker 5: how do you front that with this current administration in
Speaker 5: its unparalleled attacks at the institutions of the country, very
Speaker 5: specifically our universities and our governmental institutions that form the
Speaker 5: foundations of this democracy, a collection of states. And you
Speaker 5: have power to push back.
Speaker 6: Well, one of the things you know that we did
Speaker 6: in the two years before this last election, right when
Speaker 6: I had a Democratic controlled House and Senate, the people
Speaker 6: gave us this power. We got a one seat majority
Speaker 6: in each of these chambers. But by God, we're going
Speaker 6: to use it to make sure that we're making some
Speaker 6: changes that will last a lot longer than one gubernatorial
Speaker 6: administration and will survive one presidential administration. And you know,
Speaker 6: as I think about our codification of reproductive rights, we
Speaker 6: did that as a state, amending our constitution, but as governor,
Speaker 6: with our legislature, we got rid of all the trap
Speaker 6: laws making it harder for women to exercise their rights.
Speaker 6: We passed Pride. You know, we full of civil rights
Speaker 6: protections for the LGBTQ plus community. We passed the Crown Act.
Speaker 6: We're feeding one point four million Michigan kids breakfast and
Speaker 6: lunch every single day in our schools. We made community
Speaker 6: college free for every high school graduate. You know, we've
Speaker 6: been living our values and codifying things because we knew
Speaker 6: there's a possibility of an upcoming election that might want
Speaker 6: to try to roll a lot of these protections back.
Speaker 6: We will continue to live our values no matter who's
Speaker 6: in the White House, but especially right now, I think
Speaker 6: it's important for people to see, like, this is why
Speaker 6: we did this work in those two years. This is
Speaker 6: what we are going to lean on to make sure
Speaker 6: that Michigan continues to move forward instead of rolled back.
Speaker 6: And I'm fortunate I got a great Attorney General and
Speaker 6: Secretary of State who are continuing to do their job
Speaker 6: in the wake of a lot of the chaos that
Speaker 6: we're seeing coming out of Washington, d C. But make
Speaker 6: no mistake, this is a serious, scary time for a
Speaker 6: lot of folks. And when I go to Washington, d C,
Speaker 6: you know, it's a recognition that, yeah, I got this administration,
Speaker 6: but I got people who need help in Michigan, and
Speaker 6: no matter who's there, I got a duty to try
Speaker 6: to get that help.
Speaker 3: So I'm at Governor you know you we're just in DC,
Speaker 3: and of course there's this viral moment here. Let me
Speaker 3: just reenact, right, and so so my my question for
Speaker 3: you is why, right, like, we spent a hey dog,
Speaker 3: tiff is happy, look at.
Speaker 5: Him, lucky physical dog, make a.
Speaker 2: Cameo before the interviews over.
Speaker 4: But I want, okay, like the dog is gonna be special.
Speaker 6: Kevin and Doug they're going outside anyway, Sorry, go ahead, but.
Speaker 3: On this you know you you went to go pet
Speaker 3: that dog in DC, and so.
Speaker 4: I just want to know why, Governor Whitmer.
Speaker 3: We spent all election cycle telling people that this was
Speaker 3: a fascist coming into the White House. We have documented
Speaker 3: reasons for We're in the middle of a constitutional crisis.
Speaker 3: They don't want to return kilmar Abrego Garcia And you're
Speaker 3: talking about having to do the business of the people.
Speaker 3: But how are we even going to get things done
Speaker 3: for the people with the people in power that we
Speaker 3: have at the you know, at the at the federal levels.
Speaker 3: How are you justifying this visit and what are you
Speaker 3: saying to people besides I'm here on business and you
Speaker 3: don't need to see me do that, Like, what is
Speaker 3: the reason? Tell me why you would go and how
Speaker 3: that squares with the narrative. And I believe the truth
Speaker 3: of what we said leading up to November.
Speaker 6: Sure, you know, I worked hard to like Camell Harris right,
Speaker 6: like I worked my tail off. I did it, not
Speaker 6: just in the state of Michigan. I went everywhere and
Speaker 6: anywhere they asked me to go because I knew how
Speaker 6: hi the six where. I also knew it was going
Speaker 6: to be a really close election. I was worried about it.
Speaker 6: And you know, when when the dust settled, we ended
Speaker 6: up having you know, two weeks ago had a terrible
Speaker 6: ice storm here in Michigan. I mean an ice storm
Speaker 6: where we had an inch and a half of ice
Speaker 6: on trees. It snapped them in half. I still were
Speaker 6: sixteen days out, got fifty five hundred people that don't
Speaker 6: have power have I had power for sixteen days in
Speaker 6: rural parts of Michigan, people that don't have a whole
Speaker 6: lot to begin with, who are struggling to get by
Speaker 6: or living on floors in churches because they need power.
Speaker 6: And so this historic storm meant we're going to need help.
Speaker 6: And I don't know what they've done with FEMA, and
Speaker 6: I don't know what they're planning to do, but I
Speaker 6: had to go and ask for that help. While I
Speaker 6: was there, I was lobbying for Selfridge Air National Guard Base,
Speaker 6: which is in Macomb County, Michigan. You know, every four
Speaker 6: years everyone says, what's going on in Michigan. How do
Speaker 6: you win to state like Michigan. You want to say
Speaker 6: like Michigan because you show up and you fight for people.
Speaker 6: This air base that we are focused on is good
Speaker 6: paying jobs in southeast Michigan, which you're familiar enough with
Speaker 6: my state to know. You know, the population in Southeast Michigan.
Speaker 6: This is good paying jobs. It's so important for economy.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 6: I have a duty to try. Maybe I'm not going
Speaker 6: to be successful. Maybe I will get roasted on social media,
Speaker 6: maybe my own kids will be roasting me, right, And
Speaker 6: it is easy. Yeah, of course it is, you know,
Speaker 6: and and it's so I'll be honest with you. I
Speaker 6: hate that. But I have a duty to try. And
Speaker 6: if I fail, fine, But if I don't even try
Speaker 6: and people are suffering in Michigan, well then I shouldn't
Speaker 6: be in this job in the first place.
Speaker 3: I gotta know what the keys are saying. Hold on, Deandrew,
Speaker 3: I got to what did they say?
Speaker 6: There are some of the same question why he's probably
Speaker 6: not going to help you. He might not, but I
Speaker 6: gotta try. He said some of the things that I
Speaker 6: was hoping to hear, and maybe that yields something good
Speaker 6: for Michigan. But when the Missig people in Michigan are hurting,
Speaker 6: my job is to try to do everything I can
Speaker 6: to help.
Speaker 5: Why personally, you appreciate that the folder the folder covering.
Speaker 6: I wish I hadn't done that. You know, The point
Speaker 6: is I didn't sign up for that press conference. I
Speaker 6: could tell him exactly and all the deals that were signed.
Speaker 6: I was beside myself and the rhetoric on top of it.
Speaker 6: And there's a picture of me in the paper too,
Speaker 6: where I'm writing something down. I'm writing the press release
Speaker 6: that I know I got to put out as soon
Speaker 6: as I walk out of that room, saying I didn't
Speaker 6: have expective any part of that. But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 6: I wish, I wish I could go back in time,
Speaker 6: but I can't. So I'm going to say, well, if.
Speaker 5: You did go back in time, because I think Tiff
Speaker 5: was probably going to take you here, which was what
Speaker 5: is the story. It seems you went, and I've got
Speaker 5: to say I don't take exception. I know what it
Speaker 5: means to be a leader of a party. I know
Speaker 5: what it means to be a candidate for office, and
Speaker 5: as a mayor. I know what it means to govern.
Speaker 5: And when you're governing and your citizens are sending their
Speaker 5: hard earned tax dollars to Washington, d C. With the
Speaker 5: hope of it coming back and being of service to them,
Speaker 5: you got to do what is required. And I think
Speaker 5: one of the things that we also need to see
Speaker 5: simultaneously is that your values stay a front and center
Speaker 5: and that you don't come out singing an awful tune
Speaker 5: because the dance, you know, master decided that that's what
Speaker 5: you got a dance to. Tiffany, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to make the point that I mean,
Speaker 1: it was highly covered that you were not there to
Speaker 1: participate in that you were, you know, against your will,
Speaker 1: almost ushered into the Oval Office press conference and you
Speaker 1: didn't know you were here. You told the Economic Club
Speaker 1: in DC this week. I didn't want my picture take
Speaker 1: and that was all I kind of wished. I hadn't
Speaker 1: put my folder in front of my face, But whatever,
Speaker 1: you know, I was there I just wrote a book
Speaker 1: about learning to laugh at yourself, so I'm pretty good
Speaker 1: at We all have our.
Speaker 2: Moments that first.
Speaker 1: But you also penned a letter to Donald Trump saying
Speaker 1: that you look forward to working together, and you praise
Speaker 1: the support for the auto industry, which this week the
Speaker 1: UAW writ in your state also echoed those sentiments while
Speaker 1: also being critical of him. And I just want you
Speaker 1: to know I do appreciate the complex situation because at
Speaker 1: a time when there were adults in the GOP party,
Speaker 1: that was a sense of normalcy. In these times, there
Speaker 1: is no GOP. I think we have to acknowledge that
Speaker 1: there are right wing extremists who are members of a
Speaker 1: Maga cult running this party. I'm curious how you stripe
Speaker 1: the balance of fighting for the people of Michigan but
Speaker 1: also not allowing yourself to be you used for a
Speaker 1: nefarious photo with someone who's quite frankly unhinged and politically
Speaker 1: in its.
Speaker 6: So I guess I would say this. You know, during COVID,
Speaker 6: I fought the Trump administration because michiganers were dying and
Speaker 6: they weren't doing what I think needed to be done,
Speaker 6: just to keep people safe and protect people and give
Speaker 6: them good information, get the masks and gloves that we needed.
Speaker 6: You know, nothing's changed. But you know, my job is
Speaker 6: to fight for the people in Michigan, and I'm going
Speaker 6: to do that no matter who is in the White House.
Speaker 6: I'm there fighting for funds to help people who are
Speaker 6: suffering in northern Michigan because of this ice storm. I'm
Speaker 6: fighting there. I'm there to fight for jobs for Selfridge.
Speaker 6: Nothing's changed in terms of my values. Nothing's changed in
Speaker 6: terms of the things that I care about and the
Speaker 6: people that I fight for. And yeah, you know I
Speaker 6: got people threatening to kill me during COVID, Yes, and
Speaker 6: now I got people mocking me or roasting hands on
Speaker 6: social media. Fine, take all the shots you want at me,
Speaker 6: but I am going to show up for Michigan. And
Speaker 6: I'm never going to apologize for showing up for Michigan.
Speaker 6: But it does not mean that I subscribe to any
Speaker 6: of the other stuff that was coming out of that
Speaker 6: room that day. And I hope to make that clear.
Speaker 6: I hope I've made that clear. I'll probably have to
Speaker 6: continue to try to make that clear. But nothing's changed.
Speaker 6: You know, my job is to show up for Michigan.
Speaker 6: And when people are hurting. I got to do everything
Speaker 6: I can to help Angela.
Speaker 3: And you're saying nothing's changed, but you know, I feel
Speaker 3: like every but yet everything has. We're asking people to
Speaker 3: show up abnormally and abnormal times. You experienced abnormal long
Speaker 3: before twenty twenty five, with you know, the threat you're
Speaker 3: talking about, people threatening to kill you, people.
Speaker 4: Trying to have an entire kidnapping plot.
Speaker 3: Now the kidnappers, the election deniers, the federal program slashers,
Speaker 3: they are now running the administration.
Speaker 4: So even in your.
Speaker 3: Advocacy of Michigan, right, what does your different you're abnormal?
Speaker 3: You're meeting them all look like, well.
Speaker 6: I first I'll say this, you know, fool me once,
Speaker 6: shame on you, But that's not going to happen again.
Speaker 6: I can tell you that much. You know, as I
Speaker 6: as I look at the work that we have to
Speaker 6: do here in Michigan, you know that's why I talked
Speaker 6: a little bit about those two years, these last two
Speaker 6: years leading up to this moment, all the work that
Speaker 6: we did to protect people, to build in those structures.
Speaker 6: I'm really worried about what cost cuts to medicate are
Speaker 6: going to mean. I'm really worried about you know, our
Speaker 6: ability to help people who are who are struggling to
Speaker 6: level the playing field. You know, we've got to build
Speaker 6: housing all across this country. We know that affordable housing
Speaker 6: is there's a dearth of it, and yet all of
Speaker 6: the potential things coming out of out of the Washington
Speaker 6: d C could undermine that. And so we're trying to
Speaker 6: work creatively how can we address this if this happens
Speaker 6: at the federal level. But it's exhausting because you can't
Speaker 6: predict what the next thing coming out of Washington is
Speaker 6: going to be. I'm really hoped that at some point
Speaker 6: we see some courage out of the GOP members in
Speaker 6: Congress to say, Okay, guess what next year's coming up? Fast?
Speaker 6: And if they continue to impose tariffs that run people
Speaker 6: out of work or run up our grocery bills, if
Speaker 6: they continue to strip healthcare away from a million people
Speaker 6: who are on it because of Medicaid expansion in Michigan,
Speaker 6: that's going to have real impacts. But the things that
Speaker 6: we've done to help people keep money in their pockets,
Speaker 6: the Working Family's Tax Credit, we quintupled the e C
Speaker 6: so that people were working but couldn't make ends meet,
Speaker 6: have got more support. We got rid of the retirement tax,
Speaker 6: so that retired Michiganers who didn't pay tax until about
Speaker 6: ten years ago and had their rules changed on them
Speaker 6: now get to keep those dollars. We got the first
Speaker 6: auto plant in Detroit in thirty years done. That's thirty
Speaker 6: six thousand good pan auto jobs.
Speaker 5: And governor all those jobs, those auto because we all
Speaker 5: know how significant the building of those cars in this
Speaker 5: country are. Some of us probably underestimated what the component
Speaker 5: parts are that are required for that assemblage and the
Speaker 5: fact that those component pieces come from all over the globe.
Speaker 5: You were in a very unique position given you are
Speaker 5: geographic proximity to Canada, the President refers to as the
Speaker 5: fifty first state. But as a sovereign nation, independent nation,
Speaker 5: you have to have a spiritual character. I have to
Speaker 5: imagine as the governor of Michigan with officials across Canada's
Speaker 5: the Canadian government for the sustainability of the relationship that
Speaker 5: you get. That's so important. I have to imagine if
Speaker 5: you've seen Trump once or twice since he's been in
Speaker 5: the Oval office, that Trump's that Trump's self imposed, self
Speaker 5: inflicted or using taxation and trade policy is going to
Speaker 5: have some pretty devastating effects for the for where you live.
Speaker 5: What was that conversation with the president? Like, what are
Speaker 5: you demanding of them? In what ways are you prepared
Speaker 5: to act with the fullness that comes with the true
Speaker 5: Michigander and demanding that this president come to heal on
Speaker 5: the devastating impacts to your state.
Speaker 6: Well, listen, I've been talking to the autos, I've been
Speaker 6: talking to labor, I've been talking to all the Tier
Speaker 6: two brief suppliers. There are so many small businesses that,
Speaker 6: you know, are our the biggest employer in like a
Speaker 6: little community that are on the bubble. We know that
Speaker 6: the big three already have got a lot of decks
Speaker 6: stacked against them right when it comes to you know,
Speaker 6: China undermining our auto markets, when it comes to you know,
Speaker 6: I think counterfeit parts that are coming in. We know
Speaker 6: how hard this this moment is, and yet what's happening
Speaker 6: in d C with these tariffs are making it even
Speaker 6: more difficult. I'm very worried about it. Michigan's economy absolutely
Speaker 6: counts on that free trade with that you know that
Speaker 6: with Canada and Mexico, so many of these car parts
Speaker 6: go back and forth multiple times, and with these indiscriminate,
Speaker 6: you know, terrify ideas. These taxes, the Trump taxes that
Speaker 6: are threatened on all these going to put people out
Speaker 6: of work, and it's going to drive up the costs
Speaker 6: of an automobile as well as blueberries from Mexico, et cetera.
Speaker 6: And the interesting thing is, you know, as I talk
Speaker 6: to Canadian leaders, you know, there's a real sense of
Speaker 6: hurt on top of anger, and they've really unified against America,
Speaker 6: which it just is mind boggling to even think that
Speaker 6: Canadians sent firefighters to California when La was on fire.
Speaker 6: You know, these are our neighbors and our friends, but
Speaker 6: they feel hurt by this. They're like, why, all of
Speaker 6: a sudden are we considered adversaries when we've been like
Speaker 6: second cousins, you know. And so I do think that
Speaker 6: it's a really dangerous moment with these capricious tariffs. All
Speaker 6: it will do is paralyze business, which means layoffs, which
Speaker 6: means increased cost on Americans. And that's that's what I've
Speaker 6: been trying to convey. I obviously haven't been able to
Speaker 6: convince them, but there's a lot of folks in their
Speaker 6: ears from Wall Street to downtown Detroit, saying this is
Speaker 6: bad policy for American manufacturing, for American jobs, and American.
Speaker 5: Consumers miss this special moment.
Speaker 1: It's not me, the dog clearly has something to say,
Speaker 1: and I just don't want to silence anybody. But anyway,
Speaker 1: but their answer on terrace is a bit interesting, Governor,
Speaker 1: because a little bit of daylight between you and the
Speaker 1: head of UAW on that that I think we'll see
Speaker 1: to continue to play out. As you know, we all
Speaker 1: have grave concerns about free and fair elections. We can
Speaker 1: argue that there's never really been free in fair elections,
Speaker 1: but increasingly it will be more challenging as we look ahead.
Speaker 1: I'm one who's not holding my breain for midterms. You reference,
Speaker 1: you know that the GOP members, the members of the
Speaker 1: mega cult in Congress might somehow get some courage.
Speaker 2: I'm not holding my breast for that.
Speaker 1: But for the people who are looking forward to twenty
Speaker 1: twenty eight, I'm curious what kind of things are you considering,
Speaker 1: What are you factoring and to your decision making as
Speaker 1: you ponder a twenty twenty eight run. Your name has
Speaker 1: obviously come up the past election cycle, and as people
Speaker 1: look forward to this election cycle.
Speaker 2: What do you considering if you make that decision.
Speaker 6: Well, you know, I'm not spending any time pondering a
Speaker 6: run for twenty twenty eight. I'll just be honest with you.
Speaker 6: I got my hands full in this job. I am
Speaker 6: governor for the next year and eight months, and then
Speaker 6: I'm going to go walk the earth for a little
Speaker 6: while with my husband and dogs and reconnect and figure
Speaker 6: out what i want to do next. But you know,
Speaker 6: we need a great, strong candidate for twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 6: And it doesn't have to be me. It could be.
Speaker 6: There's a lot of wonderfully talented people out there. I
Speaker 6: want to be a part of helping whomever that person is.
Speaker 6: But I think when my term comes to a close,
Speaker 6: I'm gonna I'm gonna take a little break.
Speaker 2: Well, speaking of breaks, I know we're running up on time.
Speaker 4: But she wants to dog the dog come here, Keaven, Heaven,
Speaker 4: come here.
Speaker 6: I got Heaven and Kevin gon o maiden names.
Speaker 4: Okay, ken.
Speaker 6: Is he a he's a dode all So we got
Speaker 6: r you have big old.
Speaker 2: Dog has something to say about her?
Speaker 1: Wait wait, big wretch got a big dog.
Speaker 6: This is Dougie dog.
Speaker 4: The name of this episode is Big Wretch with the
Speaker 4: big dogs.
Speaker 5: But you gotta make a gotta make a special dog.
Speaker 6: He's given.
Speaker 3: Lord, not in the mouth, don't do it. Okay, Well,
Speaker 3: well big Wretch got big appointments from.
Speaker 5: Here, yes, Governor, before you, before you go. And I
Speaker 5: have not been admonished to do this by your lieutenant Governor.
Speaker 5: But I remember when I was running in my primary,
Speaker 5: I would have to come upon places where I would
Speaker 5: have to understand the political calculus that's being made. And
Speaker 5: I would often tell those people, or asked rather of
Speaker 5: those people, if you can't help me, and in this situation,
Speaker 5: I hear you, then just don't hurt me. And that
Speaker 5: was a way of finding I think, partnership where I
Speaker 5: could and places where I was going to be running
Speaker 5: the toughest race that I had ever faced, and of
Speaker 5: all the headwinds coming at me, I didn't need my
Speaker 5: closest to be one of them. And so that's my
Speaker 5: brotherly requests on his behald, thank you for for taking
Speaker 5: time of being with us too.
Speaker 6: I hear you know what. We won Michigan twice, by
Speaker 6: almost double digits the first time and over double digits
Speaker 6: a second time, so that's a good place to run
Speaker 6: for well.
Speaker 3: Tell Kevin and Doug Tiffany said by and we appreciate you, Governor,
Speaker 3: thank you for the time. For everybody else, make sure
Speaker 3: you subscribe to Native Lampod on YouTube and tune in
Speaker 3: wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 6: Welcome home, y'all, Welcome home.
Speaker 1: Take care of Governor, Thank you, take care.
Speaker 4: I cannot believe you had our lift up.
Speaker 3: The Native Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership
Speaker 3: with Reason Choice Media. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
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