Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Seemingly Skips Michigan Police Officer’s Funeral to Attend Joe Biden’s White House Meeting

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) skipped out on a Michigan police officer’s funeral on Wednesday, as she is slated to attend President Joe Biden’s White House meeting with Democrat governors in person.

Whitmer’s director of communications, Bobby Leddy, reportedly confirmed in an email that Whitmer would attend the closed-door meeting in person, taking place on Wednesday. This means that Whitmer seemingly prioritized the Biden crisis meeting in Washington, DC, over a funeral for Michigan police officer William “Bill” Butler Jr.

Butler, 51, died in the line of duty as a result of a shootout with a suspect, Eric Fiddler of Jonesville, who, according to WTVB, “had been wanted on several warrants.”

The funeral service for Butler was held at 11:00 a.m. at the Hillsdale College Christ Chapel, with the procession beginning between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.

According to the outlet:

Numerous local law enforcement officers will be on hand for the funeral. Sheriff John Pollack and Undersheriff Keith Eichler will be leading a large delegation from the Branch County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff Pollack stated, “Over my forty-five years with the Sheriff’s Office, there have been many times Branch and Hillsdale County Sheriff’s deputies have been called upon to back each other in times of crisis; today is no different. We are making this trip to honor Deputy Butler’s sacrifice and to support the Hillsdale Sheriff’s Office”.

Whitmer is not the only Democrat seemingly prioritizing Biden’s reelection above all else. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also opted to leave California during an ongoing wildfire emergency to “stand” with Biden.

Governors coming to the White House today for emergency meeting with Biden include:
Walz
Newsom
Pritzker
Beshear
Healey
Hochul
Moore
McKee

Many others, including Shapiro, Cooper and Murphy attending virtually

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) July 3, 2024

As Breitbart News observed, “Several governors are attending virtually.” It remains unclear why neither Whitmer nor Newsom opted to attend the White House meeting virtually.

This comes as Biden made a surprise appearance on Wednesday’s Democratic National Committee (DNC) call, where he reportedly made it clear that he has no intentions of dropping out of the race and is in it for the long haul.

One individual on the call quoted Biden saying, “Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running…no one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end, and we’re going to win.”

President Biden on campaign call that just wrapped, per person on the call:

“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running…no one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”

— Elena Schneider (@ec_schneider) July 3, 2024

Breitbart