Former President Donald Trump—speaking in Detroit before a crowd of Detroiters – describing the Motor City as a “ruined” pile of rubble that looks “a lot more like the developing world” than most places in China. If Vice President Kamala Harris elected, he warned, “our whole country will end up like Detroit.”
Trump’s remarks at the Economic Club of Detroit on Thursday – also took aim at the “once great city’s” “abandoned” homes, “dilapidated” hotels and young people on the run hide – predictably unpopular with local leaders and especially the president and leaders. CEO of the economics clubwho said that Detroit, in fact, “is doing very, very well right now.”
Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan IN a video posted to Instagram: “The best thing that happened to Detroit was when Donald Trump left office and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came in and gave us real partners.”
Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer more precisely: “Stay away from Detroit,” she wrote Thursday X day.
Both Democrats were quick to point out that, contrary to Trump’s dark vision for Detroit, the city is actually on the rise economically and demographically since filing for bankruptcy. property in 2013. The city’s population, home prices and jobs are all growing again, Michigan Bridge reportand over the past year, wage growth in southeast Michigan has outpaced the national average.
Yet Trump rarely misses an opportunity to disparage an urban center, even in swing states he hopes to win. According to the report, he called Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “a terrible city” earlier this year— an opposition he has sought to return to. He has also described Portland, Oregon as “burned down much of the city“New York is”Decaying city” and Atlanta is “killing fields.” IN 2020 town hall on Fox News, Trump claimed that Detroit, Oakland and Baltimore suffered worse violence than cities in Guatemala and Honduras. “These cities are like living in hell,” he said.
In Thursday’s speech, Trump also accused Harris of “destroying” San Francisco, a city he previously calledworse than a slum” And “can’t even live.” Not coincidentally, less than 13% San Francisco voters voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. His performance in Detroit that year was even weaker, at only 3.49%.
Speak in Macomb County, Michiganon Friday, Harris’ companion, Tim WalzDefend Motor City and fire back at Trump. “The city is growing, crime is down and factories are opening,” he said. “But those guys, all they know about manufacturing is bullshit manufacturing.”
