NOVI, Mich. — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit as he called for votes in a suburb of the largest city in the swing state of Michigan on Saturday.
“I think Detroit and some of our areas make us a developing country,” the former president told supporters in Novi. He said people want him to say Detroit is “great,” but he thinks it “needs help.”
The Republican candidate for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that “the whole country will eventually be like Detroit” if Democrat Kamala Harris wins the presidency. That comment drew harsh criticism from Democrats, who praised the city for its recent drop in crime and growing population.
Trump’s stop in Novi, after an event Friday evening in Traverse City, is a sign of Michigan’s importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled to meet later Saturday in Kalamazoo with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day early in-person voting becomes available across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters. Trump won the state in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden won the state four years later.
Michigan is home to major auto companies and the largest concentration of United Auto Workers members in the country. It also has a significant Arab-American population, and many are frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
During his rally, Trump spotlighted local Muslim and Arab-American leaders who joined him on stage. These voters “could swing the election one way or the other,” Trump said, adding that he was counting on “overwhelming support” from those voters in Michigan.
“When President Trump was president, there was peace,” said one of those leaders, Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi. ‘We had no problems. There were no wars.’
Participants cheer as former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Suburban Collection Showplace, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Novi, Michigan. Credit: AP/Alex Brandon
While Trump seeks to capitalize on community frustration with the Democratic administration, he has a history of policies hostile to this group, including a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in power and a promise to expand this to refugees from Gaza if he wins. on November 5.
A Trump ally, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the grandson of Lebanese immigrants, told reporters that Trump was winning the support of more Arab Americans and has built relationships with Middle Eastern leaders who want more stability in the region would bring.
In lengthy remarks to his supporters, Trump went after Harris and the media with familiar barbs and promoted immigration and energy policies, which are part of the campaign. For example, he said, immigrants “take the jobs of the black population and they take the jobs of the Hispanic population.” Government data contradicts this claim and shows that migrant workers contribute to economic growth and provide promotional opportunities for native workers.
Trump was on his way to a rally in State College, Pennsylvania.