NOVI, Mich. (AP) — Donald Trump further denigrated Detroit while appealing for votes Saturday in a suburb of the largest city in swing state Michigan . “I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” 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 nominee for the White House had told an economic group in Detroit earlier this month that the “whole country will end up being 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 night in Traverse City , is a sign of Michigan's importance in the tight race. Harris is scheduled for a rally in Kalamazoo later Saturday with former first lady Michelle Obama on the first day that 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 carried it four years later. Michigan is home to major car companies and the nation’s largest concentration of members of the United Auto Workers.
It also has a significant Arab American population , and many have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza after the attack by Hamas against Israel on Oct. .
