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Speaker 1: Welcome back to The Daily Show. My guest tonight is
Speaker 1: a two.
Speaker 3: Term governor of Michigan and author of the best selling
Speaker 3: book True Gretch. Please welcome Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Speaker 4: What Apple Gray? Aren't they gray?
Speaker 3: All these all these people who love you aren't even
Speaker 3: legally allowed to vote for you. You're a Michigan I'm
Speaker 3: in Michigander. It dawned on me today in this audience
Speaker 3: might not like this, but it dawned on me today
Speaker 3: that one of the.
Speaker 1: Best parts of Chicago is the Lake, and one of
Speaker 1: the best parts of Chicago is Michigan. Right, bo. I
Speaker 1: think one of the things people love.
Speaker 3: About you is that you have grit, and you seem tough,
Speaker 3: and you talk and you talk about this.
Speaker 1: You talk about this in your book.
Speaker 3: You talk about as a kid's someone pushed you down,
Speaker 3: knocked your teeth out.
Speaker 1: What age was that that that happened.
Speaker 5: It was about eighth grade. It was church camp.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 5: So much violence can happen church.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then throughout your life, even in the chambers
Speaker 3: while people are voting, you would pop your teeth out
Speaker 3: to mess with them, right yeah, well, yeah, we have
Speaker 3: a picture of what sometimes.
Speaker 1: I mean, this was in the book. I love this.
Speaker 1: I mean, what is that? What is that picture? Where
Speaker 1: is that picture?
Speaker 5: That was? In high school?
Speaker 6: At some point I used to play in the Gusmacker Tournament,
Speaker 6: the three on three basketball and I was eating a
Speaker 6: tutsu roll on the way and both my teeth came
Speaker 6: out before the game. It was it was a nice
Speaker 6: you know, got in their brains.
Speaker 1: Is that?
Speaker 3: That's a physical toughness, But now in politics it feels
Speaker 3: more emotional toughness.
Speaker 1: Is that right?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I think so.
Speaker 6: You know, one of the nicknames I've earned over the
Speaker 6: last few years is Big Gretch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Big Wretch.
Speaker 5: My all time new favorite nickname.
Speaker 6: It used to be Gravity Gretchen because I fall down
Speaker 6: a lot, hence the teeth. But during during COVID I
Speaker 6: talked about in the book. But during COVID, you know
Speaker 6: when Donald Trump turned his ire to me because I
Speaker 6: observed there was not a national strategy. When he told
Speaker 6: us he's not a shipping clerk, we need to go
Speaker 6: find masks ourselves, he got mad and so turned his
Speaker 6: attention to me, and I started getting threats and all
Speaker 6: of that noise. And at some point someone on my
Speaker 6: staff said, you know what that people are starting to
Speaker 6: call you Big Gretch, right, And I was like, what
Speaker 6: is this?
Speaker 3: Well, and we were listening to g mac Cash's Big
Speaker 3: Gretch song downstairs. Yeah, so whole rap song we've written value,
Speaker 3: which is pretty cool.
Speaker 5: It became a thing.
Speaker 6: You know, the people of Detroit bestowed this nickname on
Speaker 6: me because I was taking so much heat from the
Speaker 6: White House and doing what I could to save people,
Speaker 6: and so this was Someone likened it to being bestowed
Speaker 6: the key to the city when the people of Detroit
Speaker 6: give you a nickname like Big Gretch.
Speaker 3: On page on page two, the second page of your book,
Speaker 3: you talk about your grandmother Nino and how she said
Speaker 3: always look for the positive and people, and I love
Speaker 3: this quote. It is even the meanest person might have
Speaker 3: pretty eyes.
Speaker 1: Is that a way to govern? I mean that.
Speaker 3: You know a lot of people maybe sadly were introduced
Speaker 3: to you through through.
Speaker 1: The kidnapping story.
Speaker 3: How do you see the positive in those people or
Speaker 3: in that situation?
Speaker 1: Can you?
Speaker 6: Well, they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,
Speaker 6: So there's a bit positive. Yeah, you know, I've learned
Speaker 6: so much in the last six years. When you get tested,
Speaker 6: you see what you're capable of and what you're made of,
Speaker 6: and you also know who you can count on and
Speaker 6: who you can trust. And so there's a lesson in
Speaker 6: every tough story.
Speaker 1: Yep. And there's yet. You're the governor of the whole state.
Speaker 3: Your supporters love you, but there's people on the other
Speaker 3: side that maybe didn't vote for you, that are still
Speaker 3: mad about some COVID restrictions, that are having a hard
Speaker 3: time paying their mortgage.
Speaker 1: How do you bridge the gap with them? How do
Speaker 1: you speak to them? What do you say?
Speaker 5: I think it's showing up.
Speaker 6: You know, I know that I don't have every person's
Speaker 6: lived experience. I'm learning when I'm asking what can I
Speaker 6: do that'll make your life better?
Speaker 7: Ye?
Speaker 6: What how do I govern in a way that gives
Speaker 6: you a path to prosperity or takes a barrier out
Speaker 6: of your way? I love to get around Michigan and
Speaker 6: ask that question. You know, if I'm lucky enough to
Speaker 6: get elected, what could I do for you? And people
Speaker 6: are not shy to tell you.
Speaker 5: When you have.
Speaker 6: They will tell you things you never imagined. But over
Speaker 6: and over again, when you hear something that is recurring,
Speaker 6: you know, this is a real problem that people, regardless
Speaker 6: of their politics, need me to solve. Fix the damn
Speaker 6: roads was the initial response, and that's why focused.
Speaker 3: Yeah, infrastruction, how brilliant a brilliant platform Because as a Michigander,
Speaker 3: I've said that to my too, to whoever's listening, and
Speaker 3: apparently you were listening. You put it on a bus
Speaker 3: and your bus was listening. I have to ask you
Speaker 3: this because I don't often get the opportunity to sit
Speaker 3: down with the governor of Michigan. But as a michigan
Speaker 3: Er myself, I love our great Lakes. I love the
Speaker 3: twenty percent of the world's fresh water is sitting amongst us.
Speaker 3: I've lived in Los Angeles, I've toured through Arizona. They
Speaker 3: want our water, okay, And in all reality, what are you,
Speaker 3: as governor doing to protect our great lakes?
Speaker 1: Is this important to you?
Speaker 5: Absolutely so?
Speaker 6: The Great Lakes twenty one percent of the world's fresh
Speaker 6: surface water.
Speaker 3: This is a big I said twenty and she was like,
Speaker 3: it's twenty one, mother.
Speaker 5: Can you read that?
Speaker 1: That's good?
Speaker 6: So you know why I'm working hard to make sure
Speaker 6: that we protect the Great Lakes and we make Michigan
Speaker 6: a place where people move to for opportunities. So I
Speaker 6: would welcome you to come back to Michigan, enjoy the work,
Speaker 6: and then maybe you and I can reenact the Klepper
Speaker 6: Pritzker barkrawl.
Speaker 5: Yo.
Speaker 1: That would be fun.
Speaker 3: I haven't gone drinking with Klepper, but I bet there
Speaker 3: might have been a bucket there where he was kind
Speaker 3: of like, you know, there's a lot of energy. There's
Speaker 3: a lot of energy for Kamala right now.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of momentum. I'm right.
Speaker 3: I'm fearful though, I'm fearful that Democrats aren't thinking a
Speaker 3: few steps ahead. Trump is throwing his tantrums. He's mad
Speaker 3: that she's doing well, but you know, he's a competitor.
Speaker 3: He's gonna he's gonna pivot, he's gonna come back with something.
Speaker 3: Are the Dems strategizing many steps ahead?
Speaker 5: I believe so, But what are you anticipating I.
Speaker 3: Mean, what are you, what.
Speaker 5: Are you gonna do in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 6: I mean, I think he's sitting at home watching the energy,
Speaker 6: the enthusiasm, the optimism that it's going to come out
Speaker 6: of this.
Speaker 5: Week, and I think it's going to hurt his brain.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well it is Okay, Okay, let's hope that happens.
Speaker 3: Let's prepare for him to get his head on straight
Speaker 3: and stop throwing a tantrum like a four year old.
Speaker 1: He's not talking like a four year old. Eventually they
Speaker 1: calm down and they figure out the weak spot.
Speaker 3: So I'm just hoping the Dems are are you are
Speaker 3: you you're a co chair on Kamala's campaign or I mean,
Speaker 3: how does are you strategizing?
Speaker 1: Are you talking long term?
Speaker 6: Well, I mean this is Michigan is Michigan, right, There's Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan.
Speaker 6: These are the swingiest of states and we are going
Speaker 6: to decide the outcome of this election. We got to
Speaker 6: show up, We got to do the work. We got
Speaker 6: to be in all eighty three counties. We cannot write
Speaker 6: off a place because it looks Republican in past elections.
Speaker 6: We're going to show up and we're going to pull
Speaker 6: people in because this.
Speaker 1: Is show up, show them up as the bat.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you talk and hear a lot about your gratitude journal,
Speaker 3: which I love, be specific with what you're thankful for
Speaker 3: what you do. But sometimes do you ever just write
Speaker 3: down super annoying shit? You know, you've had some bad
Speaker 3: stuff that's happened. Do you ever just write down, well
Speaker 3: that does this suck?
Speaker 1: Today? It's people try to kidnap me.
Speaker 5: It's tempting, it's tempting.
Speaker 6: But no, but there are some days where it says,
Speaker 6: my dog's my bed in tequila.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, you have that in yet. Let's talk about humor.
Speaker 3: You know, this is a comedy show. I grew up
Speaker 3: in a big family. No one ever said I love
Speaker 3: you and my family. But you teased, you poked fun
Speaker 3: And when I read and listened to your book, I
Speaker 3: love the audio version as well. There's a lot of
Speaker 3: humor and it just comes naturally for you. Is this
Speaker 3: something that is embedded in you from an early age
Speaker 3: as a kid.
Speaker 1: Is it something you've worked on.
Speaker 6: I think both my folks were really funny, and humor
Speaker 6: is a great way to to I think relief stress
Speaker 6: diffuse a tough tense situation, if you can find a laugh.
Speaker 5: And my mother was kind of the queen of gallows humor.
Speaker 6: Even in the darkest day she died of brain cancer,
Speaker 6: and even in the darkest day she was, she could.
Speaker 5: Find the light. She could make us laugh.
Speaker 6: And I think it's just such a powerful way to
Speaker 6: find common ground. That's why I love I love being
Speaker 6: on your show with you.
Speaker 1: I love that last thing.
Speaker 8: You know, I told you that a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 8: my daughter, who's four, got pushed by another girl at
Speaker 8: camp and had a black eye, and I was really
Speaker 8: sad and I was upset about it.
Speaker 3: And then I read your book and I said, holy shit,
Speaker 3: my daughter.
Speaker 1: Is going to be the governor of Michigan.
Speaker 3: True grets is available about Governor Bretz and whatever.
Speaker 1: The Democrats could have been to Annie's. I need to
Speaker 1: hold the convention. So why Chicago, our own Jordan Klepper.
Speaker 3: Spent the day with a local to find out what
Speaker 3: Chicago has to offer.
Speaker 9: Beautiful Chicago my old term where I spent nearly a
Speaker 9: decade doing improv comedy and posing like a hip hop magician.
Speaker 9: But this isn't about me. It's about showing the exotic
Speaker 9: hotspot Chicago has to offer, and I've got a little
Speaker 9: help from a local billionaire for tour guide.
Speaker 1: I'm here with Governor J. B. Pritzkar. We're gonna see
Speaker 1: that Chicago is.
Speaker 9: More than just Wrigley Field and a bunch of drug
Speaker 9: clocks san bar.
Speaker 5: Right, there's culture here.
Speaker 9: What are we gonna say?
Speaker 7: We got blues, we got the lakefront, we got museum,
Speaker 7: we're foody towns.
Speaker 9: We are gonna get to the head us to drink here.
Speaker 1: We gotta get a drink.
Speaker 3: Let's go.
Speaker 1: To save my old play. It's perfect to get in
Speaker 1: the right bood.
Speaker 9: We need a local delicacy.
Speaker 7: Milort is a Chicago special. So if you come to Chicago,
Speaker 7: I mean, if you want to be like Chicagoan's, you
Speaker 7: gotta have a award.
Speaker 9: Yes, it's a lovely liqueur made here in Chicago, and
Speaker 9: it tastes like it was made here in Chicago. But
Speaker 9: it's a leaded I love it.
Speaker 2: Cheers.
Speaker 7: Oh oh, that's some of the best award I've ever had.
Speaker 1: That's delicious.
Speaker 9: I have this after taste like I was sucking on
Speaker 9: the leg of a wet dog. It's DNC week. The
Speaker 9: convention is here, in Chicago.
Speaker 7: Why Chicago, Well, you know, we've had more political conventions
Speaker 7: in Chicago than any other city in America.
Speaker 9: You haven't always gone great.
Speaker 1: The demonstrators repeatedly tried to march on the side of
Speaker 1: the convention.
Speaker 7: Things have changed quite a lot, and they're protests at
Speaker 7: every convention. But the truth is that here in Chicago,
Speaker 7: we protect people's First Amendment rights and we're gonna put
Speaker 7: on one of the best conventions leaders every time. There's
Speaker 7: no city that has a better summer than the city
Speaker 7: of Chiclan.
Speaker 9: This is like the Olympics for people who are not.
Speaker 7: I know this doesn't sounding excited to you, but every
Speaker 7: delegation fifty states all day they're gonna be meetings among
Speaker 7: Democrats about the party platform.
Speaker 9: You're right, that doesn't sound exciting.
Speaker 5: To see what the RNC did.
Speaker 1: Hulk Hogan.
Speaker 9: They got Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock, How do you beat that?
Speaker 9: What are you gonna get the guys from Jackass.
Speaker 7: Honestly, this is gonna be the most energetic convention that
Speaker 7: you've ever seen.
Speaker 9: Unfortunately, I see what their energetic convention told.
Speaker 7: Be, Like hil Clinton was out there doing the mackerreno,
Speaker 7: like nobody's business. So I actually think this is one
Speaker 7: of the great moments in her history.
Speaker 9: I wouldn't attach that to her history.
Speaker 1: Keep it in history just as well.
Speaker 9: You know, Chicago has been known for a corruption in
Speaker 9: the past. Republicans are criticizing Kamala for getting in through
Speaker 9: as they would put it inside maneuvers. How does the
Speaker 9: party square or something like that?
Speaker 7: Are you kidding? Donald Trump tried to steal an election.
Speaker 9: He has one insurrection and we're gonna just that's always
Speaker 9: gonna be. You're gonna tar him with that.
Speaker 7: Yes, and by the way, he says, if he doesn't
Speaker 7: win this time, he's been cheated.
Speaker 9: I gotta ask you, the governor, a big question. Is
Speaker 9: the Barra comedy or a drama?
Speaker 7: Okay, I don't know why it's in the comedy category,
Speaker 7: but I gotta say it's one of the best shows
Speaker 7: on TV and shows off Chicago.
Speaker 9: Let's this is some of the beautiful Chicago culture telling.
Speaker 9: Let's do it all right, put it on the print.
Speaker 5: Kers.
Speaker 9: Well, now, you've always say it back in the day. Okay,
Speaker 9: maybe we just hit one or Bob before we get
Speaker 9: to that cot.
Speaker 5: It's it's not.
Speaker 9: You know this this empty bar takes me back to
Speaker 9: my improv days. The audience is a response back then.
Speaker 9: But you do it because you love it. Okay, yeah, chiers.
Speaker 1: Okay, museums.
Speaker 7: Are we talking museums?
Speaker 1: No, we're going to museums. We gotta do this.
Speaker 9: Let's see this town, this beautiful town, Governor. A lot
Speaker 9: of culture here, so much good architecture in Chicago.
Speaker 7: It is well, you know that started with the great
Speaker 7: Chicago Fire, everything getting burned down, all the great architects
Speaker 7: and artists.
Speaker 1: And I used to take here.
Speaker 9: I used to drink here. We got to get a drink.
Speaker 9: See you again.
Speaker 7: You got a green line that's doing.
Speaker 9: Were you surprised about Biden stepping down?
Speaker 7: I was, I really was. It happened so fast. It
Speaker 7: was about noon on a Sunday.
Speaker 9: Oh yeah, it was a Sunday. I remember that because
Speaker 9: I was in a church, not at a bar.
Speaker 7: I was at a church, and a lot of us
Speaker 7: were concerned about the direction of the election and whether
Speaker 7: Joe Biden was going to be able to be competitive
Speaker 7: because the polls weren't looking good.
Speaker 1: In this moment.
Speaker 9: Are you in a text chain with other governors.
Speaker 7: Well, actually there were governors talking.
Speaker 9: The governors push him out. No, no, no, you weren't
Speaker 9: nudging an old man to be clear, to be clar
Speaker 9: like walking by him on the sidewalk, doing with the
Speaker 9: governor's shake over hair.
Speaker 7: Listen, Joe Biden's tough. Anybody's gonna to nudge anybody. He's
Speaker 7: the one nudge in somebody back.
Speaker 9: Oh, don't give me this. Look how tough he looks
Speaker 9: on a bike.
Speaker 7: Bullshit.
Speaker 1: He's a tough guy, he really is.
Speaker 7: And he understands politics better than most. And we don't
Speaker 7: have any time to waste for Kamala Harris's our vice president.
Speaker 1: We all voted for her, so she's the one.
Speaker 7: And picking Tim Walls, who I think he's actually the
Speaker 7: perfect tax you know, immediately of course he's coming up
Speaker 7: with pashtags, you.
Speaker 1: Know, balls to the walls.
Speaker 9: That's the first thing you do. This is what my
Speaker 9: taxpayer money going to. I'm paying for balls hashtags. I mean,
Speaker 9: maybe buy the drinks.
Speaker 1: Okay, I got it, I got it.
Speaker 5: That's unbelievable.
Speaker 9: Enough of the distractions. Museum, where do we have to go.
Speaker 7: Well, you gotta go to a museum in contemporary art,
Speaker 7: of course, the Art Institute.
Speaker 1: You have the beautiful lions in front. Let's don't bring
Speaker 1: up the Field Museum right with the big actual history.
Speaker 9: There's culture in this town that you have to focus on.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, right right, I go. I love it.
Speaker 1: We gotta go, great history.
Speaker 5: Let's do it.
Speaker 9: You're a lot walking into a bit of Chicago history
Speaker 9: is intoxicated. I can smell the stale hot dogs and
Speaker 9: tears of defeat. Look at this, huh, beautiful day to
Speaker 9: be here at regular.
Speaker 7: Every day at Wrigley is beautiful.
Speaker 9: Yes, okay, so no baseball today.
Speaker 7: No, But when this place is full, it is amazing.
Speaker 9: There it seems to be setting up for a concert.
Speaker 9: This is America's pastime, watching other people do work while
Speaker 9: you sit on your ass. Let's go, oh road Ero,
Speaker 9: Union Roadies. Let's go Union Roadies.
Speaker 1: But by the way, I have.
Speaker 9: Some parking tickets.
Speaker 7: Do everything. I cannot help you hear those parking tickets.
Speaker 1: Sorry, everybody a beer.
Speaker 6: That's a monogree.
Speaker 9: I'll take it, okay.
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