WASHINGTON — Speaking at her daughter’s high school in East Lansing, Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivered the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, saying Trump’s claims of a strong economy don’t jibe with wage stagnation.
Trump said his administration “shattered the mentality of American decline.”
But Whitman, a first-term governor, said the stock market is not the sole indicator of economic health.
“It doesn’t matter what the president says about the stock market,” Whitmer said. “Wages have stagnated, while CEO pay has skyrocketed …. The American economy needs to be a different kind of strong.”
She opened her rebuttal with multiple dinner table issues, including transportation, health care and declining infrastructure.
“Bullying people on Twitter doesn’t fix bridges,” Whitmer said. “It burns them.”
In 2018, Whitmer beat Republican Bill Schuette by more than 9 percentage points. Whitmer has been pointed to as an example of a candidate that can take back states in the Democrat’s “blue wall” — including Whitmer’s home state of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The Senate will vote Wednesday on whether to acquit Trump of impeachment charges.
While Trump didn’t mention impeachment, Whitmer said the the historic moment should not fall to the wayside.
“The truth matters. Facts matter, and no one should be above the law,” she said. “It’s not what those senators say. Tomorrow, it’s about what they do that matters.”
