Whitmer: 'No one is worried about building a ballroom'

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Thursday brushed off debate over the demolition of the East Wing of the White House and President Trump's plans to build a ballroom, saying the focus should instead be on the government shutdown's impact on federal workers in her state.

Whitmer appeared on MSNBC's "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" to talk about the shutdown when the host shared an "insane split screen" that featured the East Wing's demolition "happening while the shutdown is leaving so many workers without pay and critical benefits."

"I just wonder, from your vantage point as a governor of a state, what are you making of that split screen?" Psaki asked.

"Well, as I have talked to people, I'm telling you right now, no one is worried about building a ballroom in Washington, D.C.," Whitmer replied. "What they want is to make sure that they can feed their kids next week. And the longer the shutdown goes, the more precarious it gets for people."

The governor said that most Americans are "never going to step foot in a ballroom over the course of their lifetime."

"But what they do every single day is try to feed their kids, make sure that they get a job to show up to, make sure that they don't hit a pothole on their drive to work and they have to take money out of their rent or their childcare to pay to fix their damn car," she continued. "That's why we got to stay focused on the issues that matter to people."

On Thursday, excavators completed the demolition of the White House's East Wing. To replace it will be a ballroom that the Trump administration expects will be finished before the end of the president's second term in 2029. Trump said this week it would cost roughly $300 million, and the White House released a list of donors on Thursday who it said it funding the project.

The East Wing was often renovated and was the subject of various controversies over the years. From its birth as a colonnade under President Thomas Jefferson, the building's second inhabitant, to the addition of a movie theater and underground bunker under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, backlash from political opponents followed various renovations.

The East Wing also became the home of the first lady's office, along with the White House's social secretary and calligrapher. These and other official roles have been relocated to other offices within the building.