Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is pushing back on Michigan’s progressive efforts to vote ‘unfettered’ against Joe Biden — and warns of a ‘devastating’ second term for ex-president

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer warned progressives in her state against casting an “uncommitted” protest vote instead of voting for President Joe Biden in the state’s primaries next week.

Democrats and pro-Palestinian activists in Michigan are mobilizing to cast their votes against Biden to protest his support for Israel in its war with Hamas terrorists operating out of Gaza.

Michigan will hold its next presidential primary on Tuesday, February 27.

“I just want to emphasize, however, that it is important not to lose sight of the fact that every vote not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,” Whitmer told CNN State of the Union host Dana Bash on Sunday .

Progressives are angry about how Biden handled the situation in Israel during the war with Hamas terrorists operating from Gaza

“A second Trump term would be devastating, not just for fundamental rights, not just for our democracy here at home, but also in terms of foreign policy,” the Democratic governor continued. ‘This was a man who proposed a Muslim ban. This is, I think, a very high-stakes moment.”

“I encourage people to vote positively for President Biden.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a Palestinian-American and part of the progressive team in Congress, supports the protest vote against the president. She was at an early voting venue last weekend to promote the initiative.

Michigan held its first ever in-person voting this primary cycle — and more than 500,000 Michigan voters have cast ballots since early voting began last Saturday. The early voting period ends on Sunday, February 25.

While Biden is the de facto Democratic nominee, Michigan voters want to send a message that they want the White House to change the message on its policies in Israel and the Palestinian enclaves in Gaza and the West Bank.

“I understand the pain people are feeling and I will continue to build bridges with people in all of these communities because they are all important to me, they are all important to Michigan and, I know, they are all important to President Biden too,” Whitmer said on Sunday.

Michigan held two weekends of early in-person voting for the 2024 presidential primaries. Early voting in the state ends on Sunday, February 25 before Election Day on Tuesday, February 27

The governor is one of Biden’s top surrogates and is promoting his re-election in her state, which is a crucial swing state in the 2024 general election.

In 2016, Michigan voted red for Trump by a narrow margin of 0.3 percent. And in 2020, the state turned blue for Biden, with a gap of almost 3 percent.

Trump wants to turn the state red again in the 2024 elections – in line with other swing states that could determine who will be behind the Resolute Desk in January 2025.