Michigan Democrats slam Trump for jab at Detroit
At an event in Detroit, Trump claimed the rest of the country would end up ‘like Detroit’ if Vice President Kamala Harris were elected president.
Michigan Democrats swiftly rebuked recent comments made by former President Donald Trump in which he stated that the rest of the United States would end up “like Detroit” if Vice President Kamala Harris were elected president this November.
At a private event with the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 10, Trump claimed that the auto industry was suffering under current policies and promised a resurgence if he is elected for a second term. He bashed the Biden-Harris administration’s economic policies and then made the remarks about the state’s largest and most populated city.
“I don’t think anything that we’re talking about today is high on her list,” Trump said of Harris. “The whole country is going to be like— you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands. … We’re not going to let her do that to this country. We’re not going to let it happen.”
Trump’s speech quickly went viral, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer responded on social media shortly thereafter.
“Detroit is the epitome of ‘grit,’ defined by winners willing to get their hands dirty to build up their city and create their communities—something Donald Trump could never understand,” she posted on X. “So keep Detroit out of your mouth. And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this in November.”
Detroit has seen an uptick in economic activity and development since the city filed for bankruptcy in 2013, its population even increasing for the first time in six decades last year.
“Detroit just hosted the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are headed to the Super Bowl, crime is down and our population is growing. Lots of cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan posted on X.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of American manufacturing jobs dropped from 12.4 million workers to 11.4 million at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, then rose to 12.2 million once Trump left office in 2021.
The bureau’s most recent report in September shows manufacturing jobs at almost 13 million, an increase of over 800,000 under Biden’s presidency.
Biden has signed laws designed to spur investment in U.S. manufacturing and create jobs. Two of those laws, the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, required tiebreaking votes from Harris in the U.S. Senate to secure passage over Republican opposition. Michigan has received investments of $6.5 billion and $26.6 million as part of the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, respectively.
“We’ve bounced back after Trump killed our jobs, closed our businesses, & tried to throw out our votes,” Michigan House Speaker Rep. Joe Tate of Detroit said on X. In an apparent reference to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, including baseless claims of election misconduct at a Detroit polling place, Tate added, “#Detroit threw Trump out of the White House last time and we’ll do it again.”
