General-turned-congressman blasts Michigan governor for crisis management performance

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), a retired three-star general and the highest-ranking military officer ever elected to Congress, says the chief executive of his home state, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, lacks the experience for leadership in a crisis and is using her office as a stepping stone for higher political ambitions.

Considered a Democratic Party rising star, Whitmer is frequently mentioned as a possible vice presidential running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Whitmer faced heavy protests for her decisions around mandated business, church, and other institutional shutdowns during the heat of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The governor is not a bad person," Bergman told Just the News in an interview. "She just has no experience in her 48 years that would qualify her as a leader in crisis. Just looking at her resume. I think maybe the highest position was when she was the minority head of the Michigan State Senate. But that's not a leadership role. That's just a legislative role. But good leaders take into consideration the safety and well-being of all under their command, under their charge. And they have to make tough decisions. But wisdom is something that comes over time. It's not just something that's put into a welcome packet when you are sworn into new position."

Bergman, a retired Marine lieutenant general who hails from a majority-rural Michigan district in the northern part of the state, said Whitmer used a one-size-fits-all approach to governing a geographically disparate state with varying characteristics.

"We have two big peninsulas," Bergman said. "And, recently over the last couple of months, unfortunately our governor has lost sight of the fact that that upper peninsula exists. It was only after tremendous outreach, both privately and publicly, that we were able to encourage her to the point of opening up the parts of the state that really weren't under any threat of a corona pandemic."

Bergman said he was concerned that Whitmer seemed more interested in fulfilling national ambitions than paying attention to her own Michigan voters.

"You are the elected commander-in-chief for the state of Michigan," Bergman said. "Lead all of your constituents, not just a few. Don't make it about you. And if you have other aspirations, let those who would choose you for another position look at how well you did in the position you are in today. There's an old phrase, 'Grow where you're planted.' And if you're planted as the governor of Michigan, then be the best governor you can be for all of your constituents. Don't be thinking about what your next step up the political hierarchy ladder is."

Regardless of Whitmer's leadership, Bergman said he did believe that the coronavirus epidemic would ultimately serve as a unifying influence in the country.

"I believe our future as a country, we're going to be so much better, because we've come through the corona pandemic," Bergman said. "And we have the confidence to say, 'Hey, guess what, that wasn't that bad. We came through it just like our ancestors came through a couple of world wars, Great Depression, Spanish flu ...' This experience, for us as Americans, is going to be bonding rather than dividing. That's my prediction. But it's going to come because people start to talk to one another in such a way as find the commonalities rather than the differences."