Remarks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention – Aug. 22, 2024

I'm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In Lansing, they call me governor. But in Detroit they call me Big Gretch. [cheers] Donald Trump called me “that woman from Michigan” as an insult. Being a woman from Michigan is a badge of honor. [cheers] Like women across America, we just GSD—get stuff done. [cheers]

At 29. I joined the sandwich generation. Sandwiched between working and raising my newborn and caring for my mom, who was dying from brain cancer. It was hard. But not extraordinary. It's life. Those nights reminded me who I was fighting for—people just trying to make it.

Kamala Harris knows who she's fighting for, too. [applause] She took care of her mom, who also battled cancer. As president, she'll fight to lower the cost of health care and elder care for every family. She's lived a life like ours. She knows us.

Donald Trump doesn't know you. At all. You think he understands that when your car breaks down, you can't get to work? No! His first word was probably chauffeur. [laughter] You think he's ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out? Hell, you think he's ever been to a grocery store? [laughter and applause] That's what the chauffeur is for.

But Kamala Harris. She gets us. She sees us. She is us. [cheers]

Look, we've all lived through a lot of history over the past few years. Floods and fires. An attempted coup. A plot. And a pandemic. It's exhausting. We don't know what the next four years will bring.

But what we do know is this. Through it all, your life won't stop. You're going to have to get to work, pick up the kids, and pay your bills. And then one day, when you're just trying to get everyone out the door, a news alert goes off. Something happened. Something hit the fan. You'll ask, “Is my family gonna be OK?” And then you'll ask, “Who the hell is in charge?” What if it's him? What if it’s that man from Mar-a-Lago?

I know in a crisis, we need someone strong enough to come up with a plan, to tell the truth, and to bring people together. Right now, before the crisis, is when we get to choose. Why wouldn't we choose the leader who's tough, tested, and a total badass? [cheers]

I know who I want as our commander in chief. America, let's choose Kamala Harris. [cheers]

PBS NewsHour. “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at 2024 Democratic National Convention | 2024 DNC Night 4.” YouTube video, 5:03. Aug. 22, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bsFb6aR734