Colbert Jokes to Gretchen Whitmer’s Face That She Rushed Out ‘Slender’ Memoir Just in Time to Replace Biden

Stephen Colbert teased Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) over her new “slender” memoir, asking her if she’d written it in the days since President Joe Biden’s lackluster debate performance.

Whitmer avoided questions about the debate and calls for Biden to step down at first though Colbert kept prying, at one point noting that Whitmer was one of the people mentioned by George Clooney in an op-ed this week as a possible replacement for Biden.

“It’s got to be a little flattering, right?” Colbert said.

“He name checked me and a handful of other folks,” Whitmer said.

The governor called Biden’s debate performance “lousy,” but the campaign co-chair insisted she still backs Biden all the way. Whitmer has recently shot down talk of her replacing Biden.

“The debate rattled a lot of people, right? It was a lousy performance. I don’t think anyone’s disputing that. I spent some time with the president in the White House and a number of my colleagues shortly after the debate,” she said. “I talked to him this past weekend with all the other vice chairs of his campaign, co-chairs, and he’s up for this.”

Colbert eventually took another route in his questioning, pulling up Whitmer’s new memoir, True Gretch, and leafing through the thin work in front of Whitmer.

“I know you’re like, go Joe, but a lot of times a memoir from a politician is a trial balloon for a presidential run and I’m just curious, at one point in the last 12 days did you write this?” he asked.

“You know, it’s easy to write a book and get it published fast!” Whitmer sarcastically said.

“Well, it’s slender,” a laughing Colbert said flipping the pages. “You could have shouted into a dictaphone to and from work!”

Watch above via CBS.

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