A new account has reopened an old political question about who Joe Biden wanted as his running mate in 2020.
It suggested that the decision goes with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer emerging as the candidate he reportedly wanted but did not pick. The claim, detailed in a recent profile by The Atlantic, runs counter to the settled narrative that led to Kamala Harris joining the Democratic Party.
The Candidate Biden Reportedly Favoured
By the summer of 2020, Whitmer's national profile had risen sharply, especially after her confrontations with Donald Trump during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, which drew sustained attention and cast her as a Democratic figure willing to challenge the White House directly. Biden began vetting potential vice-presidential picks, and Whitmer was reportedly chosen.
According to media outlets, Whitmer was not immediately certain she wanted the role. People familiar with her thinking at the time described hesitation, rooted less in ambition than in discomfort with Washington's political culture. By the time Biden invited her to Delaware for an in-person meeting, she was prepared to accept if asked.
'Biden wanted it to be Whitmer,' the report stated, but a former adviser to both Biden and Harris reportedly said the claim carries 'some weight', lending it a degree of credibility that is difficult to dismiss outright.
Who is Gretchen Whitmer?
Gretchen Whitmer is one of the most closely watched figures in American politics. Term limits will force her departure from the governor's office in November, but scrutiny of her record has only intensified as her national profile continues to grow.
Whitmer, a Democrat often dubbed 'Big Gretch', is serving her second and final term as Michigan's 49th governor. In recent months, her attention has shifted towards literacy programmes, affordable housing initiatives and efforts to ease medical debt, a closing agenda that reflects the 'kitchen-table' focus she has leaned on throughout her tenure.
Her political trajectory did not begin here. Before her 2019 inauguration, Whitmer spent years in the Michigan legislature, first in the House from 2001 to 2006 and then in the Senate until 2015, where she became the first woman to lead a Senate caucus. A brief stint as Ingham County Prosecutor followed in 2016, rounding out a career rooted firmly in state politics.
A lifelong Michigander and graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned both her undergraduate and law degrees, Whitmer built her reputation steadily. That changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when her handling of the crisis pushed her into the national spotlight. The attention was not purely political. In 2020, she became the target of a kidnapping plot by a far-right militia, an episode that underscored the volatility surrounding her governorship.
Policy Wins And Political Friction
Whitmer's administration has been defined by a mix of ambitious policy moves and persistent friction with lawmakers. Her oft-repeated call to 'fix the damn roads' became more than a slogan, with her government securing funding to repair more than 24,500 lane miles of road and 1,900 bridges. When legislative negotiations stalled, she moved ahead with the $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan bond plan, a decision that drew criticism but delivered tangible infrastructure work.
Education has been another pillar. Her administration approved the largest investment in K-12 schooling in Michigan's history, including free breakfast and lunch for roughly 1.4 million public school students. Programmes such as Michigan Reconnect, which extended tuition-free community college to adults, aimed to reshape workforce access rather than simply expand enrolment.
On rights and labour, Whitmer has taken positions that place her firmly within the Democratic mainstream. She backed the repeal of Michigan's 1931 abortion ban and supported a constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights. Legislation expanding the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act added protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2023, she signed the repeal of the state's 'right-to-work' law, marking a significant shift in labour policy.
Under her administration, more than 1,500 bipartisan bills have been signed, including measures to roll back the retirement tax and significantly increase the Working Families Tax Credit. Climate policy has also featured prominently, with the MI Healthy Climate Plan setting targets for 100 per cent clean energy by 2040 and carbon neutrality by 2050.
Why Kamala Harris?
What intervened was not a sudden reassessment of Whitmer's suitability, but a shift in the political landscape. The killing of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests reshaped expectations around the Democratic ticket. Pressure intensified for Biden to select a Black running mate: symbolic and its electoral urgency.
A former senior Whitmer staffer, cited in the report, put it plainly. 'The moment called for a black running mate.' Democrats were navigating a volatile national mood in which representation became central to their electoral strategy.
Harris, already a prominent national figure with experience in the Senate and a previous presidential run, emerged as the candidate who aligned with that moment.
Whitmer's Response And Continued Loyalty
Whitmer's own account has remained consistent. In December 2020, she confirmed she had gone through the vetting process and would have accepted the role if it had been offered. 'If Joe Biden had called and said, "I need you to be my partner and be my running mate," I would have said yes,' she told Fox 2 at the time. 'This election was that important.'
There is no indication she viewed the outcome with resentment.
The Atlantic reports that she 'campaigned happily' for the Biden-Harris ticket and 'never wavered in her support' through to the 2024 election cycle, when Biden ultimately withdrew from the race.
What It Reveals Now
Revisiting the 2020 decision is not simply an exercise in political hindsight. It arrives at a moment when Whitmer is widely viewed as a potential contender for the 2028 presidential race, and when the Democratic Party continues to grapple with questions of leadership and direction.
Biden's reported preference suggests a degree of personal judgment that was ultimately overridden by broader political realities.
Fox News Digital reported that it had reached out to both Biden and Whitmer's offices for comment. Neither response is included in the account.
Harris was chosen, and the ticket prevailed. What it does is complicate the narrative, exposing the trade-offs that underpin even the most consequential decisions. For Whitmer, it adds another layer to a political trajectory already under close watch. For Biden, it raises a quieter question: how much of that decision was truly his own?
