Voters 'cannot trust' Trump on abortion, Michigan governor says in Phoenix

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, appearing in Phoenix, said voters "cannot trust" former President Donald Trump on the issue of abortion.

She took direct aim at Trump, who has signaled that he will soon announce his policy position on the issue.

"No matter what Donald Trump tells people, he is the reason we are in this fight. He is the reason we have a majority on the United States Supreme Court that eviscerated the Roe standard," Whitmer said Wednesday, referencing the highest court's decision to overturn the landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade.

"We cannot trust what they say because we've seen extremist Republicans all across this country try to chip away at abortion rights," Whitmer said to an audience of several dozen supporters inside Fair Trade Cafe in downtown Phoenix.

Whitmer, a co-chair of President Joe Biden's re-election bid, came to Arizona to drum up support for the president.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also attended the event. Mayes has said she would never prosecute abortion cases regardless of what the courts determine Arizona law is. In her remarks, she harshly criticized Arizona's Republican-led law that currently bans abortion toward the beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy.

"Remember what the stakes are here," Mayes said. "We have a 15-week abortion ban today with no exceptions for rape or incest."

State Sen. Eva Burch, D-Mesa, who recently announced on the floor of the state Senate that she was preparing to get an abortion, also helped introduce Whitmer.

"I've been a patient seeking abortion care. I have been a medical provider in the reproductive health care space, and now a lawmaker," she said. "I have seen and experienced firsthand how our laws have failed the people of Arizona from absolutely every angle."

In her remarks, Whitmer focused on the threat that she believes Trump and the Republican Party pose to reproductive freedom.

“So what on Earth is 'that woman from Michigan' doing in Arizona?” she said, referencing the dismissive phrase Trump has used to describe her.

"The biggest and most important economic decision a person will make in the course of their lifetime is what we're talking about today," Whitmer said. "I'm here to give you a little hope, and to talk about how high the stakes are in this election, this national election that's looming."

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Biden has leaned on Whitmer to mobilize voters on his behalf in the swing state of Michigan.

The Michigan governor rose to national prominence in 2020, when Trump criticized her COVID-19 policies as overly strict. Her vocal advocacy to reverse Michigan’s nearly century-old state abortion ban was credited with helping Democrats win control of both the governor’s office and the state legislature in 2022, the first time the party had done so in decades.

Whitmer’s name was floated as a possible 2024 presidential candidate amid voters' concern over Biden’s age and mental acuity. She has started a political group to fundraise for Biden, a common move among politicians who eventually seek higher office. But she has enthusiastically endorsed Biden and publicly said she has no plans to challenge him.

She has publicly urged Biden to talk about abortion more on the campaign trail.

Speaking to reporters after the event, Whitmer said that she fears that voters in states with abortion protections, such as Michigan, may not believe the issue is important in the presidential race.

"My concern is that people think that it's been settled and that maybe they don't need to vote at the top of the ticket for President Biden. My job is to remind people that this very much is in flux. We know that the Republicans want a national abortion ban," Whitmer said.

Asked whether she supports Mayes' refusal to prosecute abortion laws in Arizona, Whitmer said: "I can just tell you, in a state like Michigan, the vast majority of people came out and said, 'We expect to have these rights. We're going to codify them in our Constitution.' ... And so I would submit that that's probably what most people would expect."

Arizona is a key battleground for the presidential race. In 2020, Biden beat Trump in the state by around 10,000 votes – less than the number of fans who attend an average Major League Baseball game.

The Biden campaign, as a result, has scheduled visits for the president and a parade of surrogates through Arizona.

Biden visited Tempe in September to announce a new library honoring the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and he visited in March to mobilize Latino voters and announce a multibillion-dollar grant for the technology company Intel under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.

Harris visited Flagstaff in October as part of a tour to mobilize young voters, and she delivered a speech in Phoenix in March to criticize Republican-led efforts to restrict abortion. First lady Jill Biden visited Tucson earlier this year for another event centered on abortion.

Last month, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the influential House Oversight and Accountability Committee, swung through Tempe to speak on the health of U.S. democracy, saying the Republican party had "hallmarks of a fascist or authoritarian party.”

Laura Gersony covers national politics for the Arizona Republic. Contact her at lgersony@gannett.com or 480-372-0389.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mich. Gov. Whitmer in Phoenix: Voters 'cannot trust' Trump on abortion