Trump catches heat after insulting Detroit during speech — in Detroit
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“Our whole country will end up being like Detroit,” said former President Donald Trump while attacking his Democratic presidential opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
They say ignorance is bliss, and it seemed as if former President Donald Trump forgot where he was on Thursday when he indirectly insulted the city of Detroit while giving a speech at the Detroit Economic Forum.
“The whole country will be like … you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit,” Trump said at the podium as he railed against his Democratic presidential opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president … We’re not going to let her do that to this country. We’re not gonna let it happen.”
In trying to insult Harris — suggesting she would run Detroit into the ground — Trump ruffled feathers with Detroit residents, including the city’s mayor.
“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,” Mayor Mike Duggan tweeted. “Lots of cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help.”
Trump’s implication that Detroit was a place the United States wouldn’t want to be like can’t be taken out of historical context.
Detroit has been and continues to be a majority Black city. It’s the birthplace of Motown and had a key role in the Civil Rights Movement.
DETROIT – OCTOBER 25: A bus approaches a street named for civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks October 25, 2005 in Detroit, Michigan. Rosa Parks died in her apartment in Detroit on October 24 at the age of 92. December 1 will be the 50th anniversary of the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
The city has struggled with a host of challenges in past decades, from political scandals with its former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, to filing for bankruptcy in 2013. Detroit has also seen remarkable progress in recent years.
A wave of new developments, downtown revitalization, and a boom in the arts and culture scene have signaled rebirth. Meanwhile, the population has grown for the first time in decades.
“Detroit is a city of innovation and heart. We are survivors and have always fought for what we believe in,” Marseille Allen, a Detroit activist and political consultant, told theGrio. Allen continued, “Dr. King wrote ‘I Have a Dream’ at Solidarity House … in Detroit. We are a city of dreams, which are now coming true. And we will continue to dream and continue to thrive.”
Allen, who developed a friendship with Harris dating back to the Flint Water Crisis, said of Trump, “If the man who aligns himself with dictators thinks poorly of my city, the grittiest city in our nation, then we are clearly on the right track.”
She said she “wholeheartedly” agreed with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — whom she described as “Big Gretch, the best governor in the land” — telling Trump to “keep my city out of your mouth.”
Trump’s almost two-hour speech at the Detroit Economic Forum on Thursday boasted about improving auto production and making car ownership more affordable by allowing people to claim interest on car loans as a tax deduction.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – OCTOBER 10: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump (left), speaks with Amb. John Rakolta Jr., President of Walbridge, at the Detroit Economic Club on October 10, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. Michigan is considered a key battleground state in the upcoming presidential election, holding 15 electoral votes. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
If re-elected, Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on U.S. imports, which numerous economists have warned could increase inflation and add an estimated $15 trillion to the national debt.
Vice President Harris slammed Trump over his comments about Detroit during a Thursday rally in Las Vegas.
“My opponent Donald Trump yet again has trashed another great American city when he was in Detroit, which is just a further piece of evidence on a very long list of why he is unfit to be President of the United States,” said Harris.
The Harris-Walz campaign noted in a press release that under Trump’s leadership, Michigan lost over 280,000 jobs “as he gave tax incentives to companies to ship jobs overseas.” By contrast, the campaign said Harris has pledged to “fight for working families in Detroit and beyond.”
Michigan is a key swing state in the heated battle for the White House this 2024 election cycle and has seen numerous visits from both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Trump made a similar faux paus while visiting Milwaukee back in June, calling it a “horrible” city.
TheGrio’s White House correspondent Gerren Keith Gaynor contributed to this report.