Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer claimed to have only seen "clips" of President Joe Biden's debate with former President Donald Trump late last month.
After a poor debate performance, many Democrats and pundits have called for Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race in favor of running Vice President Kamala Harris or fielding another Democratic nominee to take Biden's place.
Whitmer, who has previously defended the president amidst calls for his withdrawal and is the national co-chair of the Biden campaign, said she had not seen the full debate between Biden and Trump during a Wednesday appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
When host Colbert brought up the response to Biden's debate, Whitmer jokingly asked, "What debate?"
Colbert then asked Whitmer if she had seen the debate, to which she replied, "I’ve seen clips of the debate."
“You didn’t watch the debate?” Colbert pressed.
The Michigan governor chuckled and said she missed the event because she was on the West Coast with colleagues at a fundraiser.
“I forgot, they don’t have television in California,” Colbert joked.
The late-night host then asked whether Whitmer thought Biden should bow out of the race or remain the Democratic nominee, though Whitmer changed the subject saying, "I like your tie."
Biden campaign co-chair @GovWhitmer claims she didn't actually watch Biden's debate.
She "watched clips" because she was at a fundraiser, and concluded Biden had a "lousy performance". pic.twitter.com/BPoE71JFmr
Whitmer then conceded the president's debate performance was "lousy" and "rattled a lot of people," though defended Biden.
"I spent some time with the president in the White House with a number of my colleagues shortly after the debate. I talked to him this past weekend with all of the other vice chairs of his campaign, co-chairs, and, you know, he’s up for this," Whitmer said. “He’s up for the job for the next four years, and I am working my tail off on his behalf."
Earlier this week, Whitmer again defended Biden's debate performance, saying it was a "90-minute snapshot of someone who has been back and forth to Europe twice in one week."
"That’s a brutal calendar for a 52-year-old,” Whitmer told USA Today, referencing her own age. “And so I think about all the extraordinary things that people see, but don’t actually pause and say, wow, he actually keeps up this really aggressive calendar, and he’s showing up, and certainly there’s that debate performance, and then there’ll be millions of others where he’ll demonstrate the vigor and the capacity.”
