Gretchen Whitmer responds to calls by some Democrats to vote āuncommittedā in Michiganās primary on Tuesday
Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor, pushed back on calls to not vote for Joe Biden over his handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict, saying on Sunday that could help Trump get re-elected.
āItās important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote thatās not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,ā she said on Sunday during an interview on CNNās State of the Union. āA second Trump term would be devastating. Not just on fundamental rights, not just on our democracy here at home, but also when it comes to foreign policy. This was a man who promoted a Muslim ban.ā
Whitmer, who is a co-chair of Bidenās 2024 campaign, also said she wasnāt sure what to expect when it came to the protest vote.
Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat who is the only Palestinian-American serving in Congress, urged Democrats last week to vote āuncommittedā in Michiganās 27 February primary.
Youāll just be forfeiting your vote. The same reasoning can be heard in any country come election time, but in truth youāre only making a gesture and its effects are contained in your mind. If you donāt vote, even though all you said is true, this election system is a sham, etc. youāre still helping Trump in the short term and the harm he will do to women, foreigners, anybody whoās not rich, and the american society at large. Gestures, symbols and statements are good, but not at this price. I live across the world but if I could vote in the american elections, I would, and Iām not even part of any of these endangered demographics. I suppose you arenāt either ?
I am an intersection of multiple demographics you mentioned and if you were any of them, you would know that biden and the democratic party has not done anything meaningful for any of them. Roe couldāve been codified, but he didnāt. biden couldāve expand the court and add new justices, but he didnāt. biden couldāve already secured a cease fire, but he hasnāt. biden spat on the rail workers asking for one week sick pay. said nope, fuck you. he also has done practically nothing about amazons union busting. biden didnāt give a shit about east palestine. flint michigan still doesnāt have clean water. he could be creating legislation to protect trans kids and adults, but doesnāt care. so what exactly is your argument about the oppressed demographics having better lives under democrats?
And furthermore, it is not just a gesture. Or at least its as much of a gesture as voting. Its effects are demonstrably not just ācontained in my mindā because it is having an obvious effect on you and judging by the 16 upvotes on the comment, perhaps I have inspired or emboldened people to be just as critical as I am being. But you will say we are stupid or foolish or whatever you need to say. I say the fool is the one that continues to perform the same behaviour with no results and then tries to convince people to not do anything different. Look how worried they are of losing their power that they have to tell people that if you donāt vote for us, its back to the trump. what a lovely threat from the people that supposedly care about us more than trump. i know they donāt, i know trump doesnāt care. they donāt answer to us and you know it.