DETROIT/OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. — With 17 days left until voting ends in the 2024 presidential election in a race that could not be closer, Donald Trump and Vice President Harris campaigned in a state where they emphasized the future of American manufacturing — and denigrated each others’ fitness for office.
While the two candidates have been crisscrossing the swing states for weeks, this is the first time they are literally crossing paths, with each of them holding events in the suburbs north of Detroit. Early voting in Michigan, one of seven swing states that are pivotal to the two candidates' path to the White House, begins Saturday in Detroit and will expand to the rest of the state by Oct. 26.
At a rally on the banks of a river in Grand Rapids, Mich., Friday afternoon, Harris said that Trump “makes big promises and he always fails to deliver.” Grand Rapids is the seat of Kent County, home to former Republican President Gerald Ford and a traditional Republican stronghold that Democrats managed to win last cycle. The community is seen as a bellwether for the state.
“Remember he said he was the only one, you know how he talks, the only one who could bring back America’s manufacturing jobs?” Harris said. “Then America lost almost 200,000 American manufacturing jobs when he was president — facts — including tens of thousands of jobs right here in Michigan.”
Trump, at an economic roundtable campaign event in Oakland County, heard from small-business owners and police officers about what they said were the deteriorating state of their communities.
After a winding preamble that touched on the idea of a crime summit in Venezuela and mocked former Republican Sen. Pat Toomey’s opposition to tariffs for limiting free trade, Trump concluded the roundtable by complimenting a man in a Teamsters shirt and said, “We’re going to bring back a lot of industries and it is going to be great.”
Oakland County was once a Republican stronghold, but has voted for Democrats since 1996. Harris’ campaign sees room to grow there by expanding support among college-educated voters and women disenchanted with Trump.
Later, Trump’s rally in Detroit was plagued by technical difficulties. His mic cut out and he paced the stage for about 20 minutes before the sound was restored. In his remarks, Trump said that under his administration the U.S. “will reclaim its stolen wealth and the days of its economic glory will return greater and stronger than ever before.” It was a departure from his previous remarks about the city when he said last week: “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's (Harris) your president." Those remarks drew widespread backlash in the region.
Manufacturing was the topic — but mental fitness got the headlines
Both candidates found time to lob criticisms at each other over their perceived fitness for office.
Harris said Trump was “ducking debates and canceling interviews,” citing news stories citing unnamed Trump aides saying he was exhausted. “Well, if you are exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about if you are fit for the toughest job in the world,” she said.
In response, Trump gave a fiery defense of his schedule, saying he was “exhilarated” and slamming Harris as “not a smart person.”
In Lansing, Harris campaigned with union workers, listing auto plant closures that happened during the Trump administration, and noting a Biden administration grant that had saved about 650 auto jobs in Lansing.
Harris underscored that Trump’s running mate JD Vance had called that grant “table scraps” during a recent campaign stop in Detroit.
She played a highlight reel of negative Trump comments about the United Autoworkers.
“We got to get the word out to all of the brothers and sisters in labor and remind them of what this dude does, right — what he actually does,” Harris said.
“Union workers are not part of his club. Let's be clear about that. No matter what he does at his rallies,” she said. “He thinks that the value of your work is essentially meaningless.”
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