Former US President Joe Biden preferred Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer as his running mate in 2020, but ultimately had to choose Kamala Harris, according to a report cited by The Atlantic.The profile was published Sunday and focused on Whitmer as a potential 2028 presidential contender. It claimed Biden “wanted it to be like Whitmer” after being impressed by her response to President Donald Trump during his first term. However, the political climate following the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests following the death of George Floyd played a significant role in the final decision. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black man, was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, sparking global protests against racism and police brutality.“It seemed like all this attention might add up to something,” the report said, “and by the summer of 2020, Whitmer was being considered for the vice presidential nomination.”It added: “She wasn’t sure about it at first, people familiar with her thinking at the time told me; she was struggling to imagine herself as a creature of Washington, D.C.. However, she got along well with Biden, and when he asked her to fly to Delaware for a personal conversation, she was ready to say yes. Biden didn’t ask.”The report also cites a former senior Whitmer staffer who said, “There was a need for a Black running mate in this moment,” suggesting that Biden’s ultimate choice of Harris was influenced by other political considerations. A former adviser to both Biden and Harris was also quoted as saying the claim holds “some weight.”Despite not being selected, Whitmer continued to support the Biden campaign and later confirmed that she had gone through the vetting process.“If Joe Biden had called and said, ‘I want you to run and be my running mate,’ I would have said yes,” Whitmer told Fox 2. He further said, “This election was very important.”The report also said Whitmer was the first potential nominee to meet with Biden in person during the vice-presidential selection process in August 2020.Harris also said she initially refrained from pressuring Biden to remove her from office because she did not want to appear “self-serving,” adding that she remained loyal under increasing political pressure.Biden ultimately chose Harris as his running mate in 2020, and she became vice president. She replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee in 2024 after he withdrew from the race, before losing the election to MAGA leader Donald Trump.