Did Gov. Gretchen Whitmer say "I will not certify the vote in my state for Donald Trump, no matter the outcome"? No, that's not true: There's no evidence the Michigan governor ever said that.
The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on November 2, 2020. Along with the question, "Can she get away with this???" the post included a photo of Whitmer and a purported quote that read:
I will not certify the vote in my state for Donald Trump, no matter the outcome
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Nov 4 03:07:43 2020 UTC)
The post offered no proof to substantiate its claim.
Lead Stories conducted Google searches on Whitmer and "certify the vote" and "no matter the outcome." They turned up no instance of a quote attributed to the Democratic governor in which she says that she would not "certify the vote in my state for Donald Trump."
We also reached out to Whitmer's office to ask about the alleged quote. We will update this story, as needed, once we receive a response.
Last month, during a campaign rally in Muskegon, Michigan, President Donald Trump called out Whitmer and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. He told supporters:
Be careful of her and her attorney general because, you know, they're like in charge of the ballot stuff.
Nessel responded to the President's comment on Twitter, promising that the vote in Michigan would be protected. She said:
1) In nearly every state of the union, including Michigan, the Secretary of State is "like in charge of the ballot stuff."
-- Dana Nessel (@dananessel) October 18, 2020
2) I AM law enforcement. And you can bet our election will be safe and the vote will be protected. pic.twitter.com/IcOsZ1okV0
Michigan is considered a battleground state in the 2020 presidential election.
