这位密歇根的第49任州长这些天接连几个小时不停地打电话，试图从一个安全的社交距离引导她的州度过一场灾难，这场灾难直到几周前还超出了大多数美国人最疯狂的想象。民主党人格雷琴·惠特默向《新闻周刊》的史蒂夫·弗里斯(Steve Friess)解释说，在她带领自己的州以优雅、坚韧和幽默的方式度过危机时，她是如何感受和思考的，她说这是她从已故母亲那里学到的。(为了清晰和空间感，此对话已被编辑。)
格雷琴·惠特默发布行政命令，禁止密歇根超过250人的所有公共集会，以应对冠状病毒爆发。格雷琴·惠特莫提供
问:你怎么样？有人问吗？
人们确实会问，这很好。我很幸运，我不担心有个栖身之所。我不像我们的一线医护人员那样，整天、每天都担心感染COVID-19。我看到了正在进行的英勇工作，它有助于我们正确看待我们在州长办公室度过的漫长而紧张的日子。
问:密歇根州的数字相当严重，你认为这与该州居民的所有潜在健康问题以及底特律是旅游和贸易的中心有关。然而，国家媒体并不像纽约、新泽西或加州州长那样现场报道你的新闻发布会。为什么？
纽约市惊人数量的病人已经引起了全世界的关注。坦率地说，它也引起了我的注意。密歇根正在发生的事情是一个重要的故事，人们都在关注，但是我们离他们在纽约的数字还很远。有很多因素影响着我们所看到的，关于这种病毒基于种族的不同影响，我们需要回答一些问题。这是非常重要的事情，人们也应该关注这些事情。
问:我不想问你关于你的服装的问题，但我很好奇你在《每日秀》上穿的“那个来自密歇根的女人”t恤是从哪里来的，这是对特朗普总统轻蔑地提到你的一种认可？
有人寄给我的！这是一件t恤，是一个女人为了表示她的支持而做的，我穿着它。我发现她一直在卖这些。她是一个有生意的单身女人，她一直在给员工发工资，卖了一大堆衬衫，这帮助她生存下来。我不知道我什么时候穿的这件衬衫。我只是想，“让我们把这件事抛在脑后。我们将展示我的幽默感，并继续前进。”
问:你认为特朗普实际上不知道你是谁吗？
哦，我想他可能知道我的名字。去年我第一次参加全国州长协会会议时，在国宴上我就坐在他旁边。我们的互动一直很好，直到他在新闻发布会上发了几条推特和几句话。我半信半疑地接受这一切。
问:我一直在追踪你职业生涯中性别歧视的历史，它可以追溯到很久以前。当这些事情发生时，把我带进你的脑海。
答:大约10年前，我的一个同事在参议院对我说了一些非常不像话。我记得我做过关于如何回应的计算——我必须在一瞬间完成。我是责备他还是试图教育他？我会笑吗？当时我想出了自己的解决方案。
问:请告诉我。您说什么？
我告诉你，但是你不能打印出来。
问:请告诉我好吗？
私下里？
问:告诉我。
我说，你怎么了？
他对你说了什么？
他告诉我他想带我去他的船上，我们去湖中央，然后我可以选择唱歌或者游泳。也许六年前，这只是议会中的一个平常的日子。
问:像大多数政治家一样，你是一个有触觉的人。通常在一场大灾难中，比如一场暴风雨或什么的，你拜访人们，握住他们的手。这个有什么不同？
我进入这个行业是因为我想解决问题，我关心别人。现在这两个电话都是我们所做的一切的核心。困难是，当然，你不能亲自去。如果有任何可能，我可以安全地穿过这些医院病房，给生病的人以安慰，我会立刻去做。然而我知道我会让你分心。我会使用个人防护装备[个人防护装备]我们太少了；这会危及我和我家人以及我团队中每个人的安全。所以我不能做本能的事情来支持那些挣扎的人。这就是为什么所有的电视、广播、新闻发布会都如此重要。因为我想保持忙碌，保持消息灵通，给人们提供信息，这样他们就可以减轻一些他们感到的焦虑。
密歇根政府格雷琴·惠特莫强硬的新社会距离规则可能会拯救她的州，但会让她自己的政治未来处于危险之中。《新闻周刊》胶袋插图；杰夫·科瓦尔斯基/布隆伯格/盖蒂
问:在你的背景下，你为这一刻做了什么准备？
我身边有一个很棒的团队。我听着。我雇用我能找到的最好的人，然后我实际上和他们商量。我们州的首席医疗官员乔尼格·哈尔顿博士是一位不知疲倦、令人难以置信的公共健康倡导者，我所做的每一个决定，我都咨询过她，以确保我们做得正确。我已经和全国的一些顶尖专家谈过了，以确保我没有被隔离，确保我在提问，确保我在挑战我的团队。所有这些因素都进入了[，创造了]一个愿景和一只稳定的手，因为我们对我们的过程和我的决策方式有信心。
问:你会接受副总统的提名吗？
答:老实说，我真的被COVID-19淹没了。在我20多年的政治生涯中，去华盛顿特区并不是我一直追求的目标。但我确实非常关心我们作为一个国家将走向何方。我非常有兴趣确保我们在这个国家有领导能力，人们可以依靠，所以我会一直参与。
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Talks Trump, VP Rumors and Tough New Stay-At-Home Rules
The 49th governor of Michigan swings from one phone call to another for hours on end these days as she tries, from a safe social distance, to guide her state through a catastrophe that was beyond most Americans' wildest imagination until just a few weeks ago. Thrust into the national spotlight by both the pandemic and the president's barbs about her pleas for more federal assistance, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer explains to Newsweek's Steve Friess how she's feeling and what she's thinking as she leads her state through the crisis with a combination of grace, grit and humor she says she learned from her late mother. (This conversation has been edited for clarity and space.)
Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order that banned all public gatherings in Michigan of more than 250 people in response to the coronavirus outbreak.COURTESY OF GRETCHEN WHITMER
Q: How are you doing? Does anyone ask?
A: People do ask, and it's nice. I'm fortunate, I'm not worried about keeping a roof over my head. I'm not worried about contracting COVID-19 all day, every day, like our frontline healthcare workers are. I see the heroic work that's going on and it helps keep in perspective the long, stressful days we're keeping here in the office of the governor.
Q: The numbers in Michigan are pretty grave, which you believe is related to all the underlying health problems of the residents of the state and what a hub Detroit is for travel and trade. Yet the national media doesn't pick up your press conferences live the way they do for the governors of New York, New Jersey or California. Why?
A: Well, the incredible number of patients in New York City has gotten the attention of the world. Frankly, it's got my attention, too. What's happening here in Michigan is an important story and people are paying attention, but we're nowhere near the numbers that they have in New York City. There are a lot of factors going into what we're seeing and questions that need to be answered about the disparate impact the virus seems to be having based on race. That's something that's really important and people should be paying attention to those things as well.
Q: I don't want to be petty by asking you about your clothing except I am curious as to where you got the "That Woman From Michigan" T-shirt you wore on The Daily Show, as a nod to President Trump's dismissive references to you?
A: Someone sent it to me! This was a T-shirt that a woman made to show her support, and I wore it. And I've come to find that she has been selling these. She's a single woman who has a business and she's been paying her employees through this shutdown and has sold a bunch of these shirts and that's helping her survive. I had no idea when I wore the shirt. I just thought, "Let's just put this behind us. We'll show that I have a sense of humor and keep moving forward."
Q. Do you believe that Trump didn't actually know who you are?
A: Oh, I think he probably knew my name. I sat right next to him at the state dinner during my first National Governors Association conference last year. Our interactions have been just fine up until a few tweets and a few remarks from his press conferences. I take it all with a grain of salt.
Q: I've been tracing the history of sexism in your career, and it goes back a long way. Take me inside your head when these things happen.
A: One of my colleagues said something really outrageous to me on the floor of the Senate about 10 years ago. And I remember doing that calculation about how to respond—and I had to do it in a split second. Do I tell him off or do I try to educate him? Do I laugh about it? I came up with my own solution at the time.
Q: Please tell me. What did you say?
A: I'll tell you, but you can't print it.
Q: Just tell me, please?
A: Off the record?
Q: Just tell me.
A: I said, what's the F is wrong with you?
Q: What did he say to you?
A: He told me he would like to take taking me out on his boat and we'd get out to the middle of the lake and then it was my choice to sin or swim. This was just an ordinary day in the legislature maybe six years ago.
Q: You, like most politicians, are a tactile person. Normally in a major calamity, like a storm or something, you visit people, hold their hands. What is different about this one?
A: I got into this business because I want to solve problems and I care about people. And right now both of those callings are central to everything we're doing. The hardship is, of course, you can't be there in person. If there was any possibility that it was safe for me to go and walk through some of these hospital wards to give comfort to people who are sick, I would do it in a heartbeat. Yet I know I would be a distraction. I would be using PPE [personal protective equipment] that we have too few of; it would be risking the safety of me and my family and everyone on my team. So I can't do the things that are instinctual in terms of supporting people that are struggling. That's why all the TV, radio, the press conferences are so important. Because I want to stay engaged, to stay informed and to give people information so they can alleviate some of the anxiety that they're feeling.
Michigan Govenor Gretchen Whitmer's tough new social distancing rules may save her state but put her own political future at risk.PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GLUEKIT FOR NEWSWEEK; WHITMER BY JEFF
Q: What in your background has prepared you for this moment?
A: I've got a wonderful team around me. I listen. I hire the best people I can find and then I actually consult with them. Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, our state's chief medical official, has been a tireless, incredible public health advocate and every decision I've made, I've consulted her to make sure we're getting this right. I've talked with some of the leading experts around the country to make sure that I am not insulated, to make sure that I'm asking questions, that I'm challenging my team. All of those factors go into [creating] a vision and a steady hand because we have confidence in our process and how I'm making decisions.
Q: Would you accept the nomination for vice president?
A: Honestly, I really am completely inundated with COVID-19. Going to Washington D.C. has not been something that I've pursued over the course of my 20-some years in politics. But I do care a great deal about where we are headed as a country. I'm very interested in making sure that we've got leadership in this nation that people can count on and so I'm always going to be engaged.
