Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer feeds podcaster Dorito in 'weird' viral video – Detroit News
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was recorded placing a nacho cheese Dorito in the mouth of a podcaster in a recent social media post, reenacting a TikTok trend and drawing confusion and criticism from several Republicans.
The video posted to Instagram by podcaster and author Liz Plank shows Whitmer feeding Plank the chip with the song “Dilemma” by Nelly, featuring Kelly Rowland, playing in the background. The camera pans from Plank to Whitmer, who is wearing a Harris-Walz cap and gives a slight nod to the camera.
Similar “feeding someone” videos on TikTok show individuals being fed food by a friend before the camera pans back to the person offering the food, who is often wearing an uncomfortable expression. Most of the videos are set to the song “Dilemma.”
The post was criticized by some Republicans, who called it “weird” and “bizarre.”
Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, called the video “weird” in a social media post.
“If her goal was to make Kamala Harris seem normal by comparison, mission accomplished,” Nesbitt wrote in a later post.
State Rep. Bill Schuette, R-Midland, responded to the video with: “Ya but JD Vance is ‘weird,’” calling out frequent Democratic criticisms of the Ohio senator and GOP vice presidential nominee.
Helen Hare, a spokeswoman for Whitmer, said Republican critiques of the video are an attempt to distract from Democratic investments in local economies.
“The governor’s social media is well known for infusing her communications with pop culture,” Hare said in a statement. “This popular trend has been used by countless people, including Billie Eilish, Kylie Jenner, and Stephen Colbert, and the fact that people are paying attention to a video promoting President Biden’s CHIPS Act proves it’s working.”
The Instagram post Thursday appeared to have been made to promote Plank’s interview with Whitmer posted to YouTube the same day for a segment called “Chip Chat,” where they ate Michigan-based Better Made chips and talked about abortion, the plot to kidnap the governor and finding common ground with disaffected male voters.
Plank initially posted the video with the comment “If he won’t, big gretch will,” then later edited the post when the video began to go viral to include a reference to the CHIPS Act. The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act was passed into law under President Joe Biden in 2022 to attempt to onshore the production of semiconductor chips, or small electronic devices.
“If he won’t, Gretchen Whitmer will,” Plank wrote in the edited Instagram post. “Chips aren’t just delicious, the CHIPS Act is a game-changer for U.S. tech and manufacturing, boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers! Donald Trump would put that at risk.”
While there’s a brief mention of advanced manufacturing in Plank’s interview with Whitmer, the pair did not otherwise mention the CHIPS Act in the recording posted to YouTube by Plank. Whitmer’s administration has been trying to court semiconductor companies to build a microchip plant in Michigan.
At one point in the podcast, Plank joked with Whitmer about whether she considered “post-birth abortion” when she comes home to find her daughters’ “Stanley cups laying around.”
Whitmer laughed and said, “Thank you for raising that because there’s no such thing,” referring to allegations that some of the more permissive state abortion laws allow for abortion after birth.
“I think it’s really important for us to make sure that people understand that,” she said. “When people like Donald Trump say ‘after-birth abortion,’ that’s just not really a thing that exists. But I understand the sentiment when you’re talking about leaving cups and dishes around. Every parent in America knows that feeling.”
eleblanc@detroitnews.com
cmauger@detroitnews.com
