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    • In the North, Trump says he told the truth when he ‘knocked’ Detroit
    Idaho

    In the North, Trump says he told the truth when he ‘knocked’ Detroit

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

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    TRAVERSE CITY (AP) — Former Republican President Donald Trump told thousands of people in northern Michigan Friday night as they waited out a long delay that he was not sorry for criticizing Detroit two weeks ago and claimed he would become the state’s largest city revive.

    In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club two weeks ago, he said the U.S. would be “like Detroit” if his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, won the election. On November 5, Trump said: “I’m not denigrating (Detroit). , I’ll tell you the facts. You need business to come back to this place or you’ll forget it.”

    Speaking in northwest Michigan, far from Detroit, he said if elected he would create “so many jobs it’ll make your head spin” in the city and across the state, which is a key battleground in the election is.

    More: Trump’s rally in Traverse City was delayed for hours due to a late departure from Texas

    For most of the rest of the 70-minute speech, Trump repeated many of the claims he made in speeches in Michigan and across the U.S., many of which were false – including one in which he now says that during the Democratic Party jobs President Joe Biden’s administration lost more than 16 million new non-agricultural jobs. He also railed against what he called immigration crime and high inflation, which has declined sharply in recent months.

    During his speech, he showed three videos, including two that repeated graphic images that suggested immigrants were responsible for rising violent crime rates. Crime data suggests that violent crime in the U.S. has declined and that immigrants are less, if not more, likely to commit crimes.

    “The United States is now an occupied country,” he said, pointing to high rates of illegal immigration during the Biden administration that have been brought somewhat under control in recent months by stricter rules for processing asylum applications.

    Trump’s speech began three hours late because he didn’t leave Austin, Texas, until around the time his speech in Michigan was scheduled to begin. While many attendees filed out, many others stayed and cheered a video of Trump on his way to the event, in which he apologized and promised a “special” event, his first on the campaign trail in Traverse City.

    At the start of his speech, he apologized again and said his staff suggested he cancel, but he declined. “I thought when I got here there would be about 20 people,” he said.

    During the speech, Trump criticized Harris, who he said was “partying” while working at a major campaign event in Texas with singer Beyoncé and other guests. The former president was scheduled to hold another rally in Novi on Saturday; Harris was expected in Kalamazoo on Saturday for a voting event with former first lady Michelle Obama.

    Many people waited hours to hear Trump speak, arriving early to hear the former president. Among them was Jerry Speckman, a 55-year-old contractor from Gaylord.

    The economy was the single most important issue for Speckman, who said he owns a small construction business. When Trump was in office, there were more project offers and more discretionary spending in his industry, Speckman said. “Today I’m shocked,” he added, saying the margins on his business are lower today than they were when Trump was in office.

    He is confident Trump will win in November and argues voters will reject Harris and the Democratic Party.

    “I’ve never seen the country so divided,” Speckman said. “I think people see hope in Trump.”

    Speckman said he plans to vote on Election Day, despite calls from the Trump campaign to vote as early as possible. As supporters waited for the broadcast to begin, a video played in which Trump continued to make false claims that the 2020 election was stolen but urged his supporters to vote by mail or at an early voting site.

    “Republicans must win, and we must use every tool available,” Trump said in the video.

    Molly Heemstra, 61, a Leelanau County voter, did not bring up a single issue on which she is most aligned with the Trump campaign, but said she has supported Trump since he announced his first Republican presidential bid in 2015.

    “I believe in what he stands for,” Heemstra said. “(He’s) not part of the old machine … and still represents principles about what people need, what people want and believe.”

    However, she is not as confident about the outcome of the November 5 election and says she plans to continue regardless of the outcome.

    “I’m not approaching this with confidence one way or another,” she said. “God has it under control. Whatever happens, we’ll be fine.”

    Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected].

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    Madoc Meredith
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