Donald Trump caps campaign in Michigan, predicting ‘greatest victory’ ever

• Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump capped his campaign with a late-night rally in Grand Rapids, as he did in 2016 and 2020
• Trump predicted victory, claimed a lead without evidence and insulted critics in his last ever speech as a presidential candidate
• Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rallied supporters in Detroit with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Jon Bon Jovi and more. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Holding perhaps his last rally as a presidential candidate, Donald Trump ushered in Election Day with a late-night Michigan rally that capped a frenetic campaign.

"This has been an incredible journey," the former president told supporters at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, where he began his remarks past midnight. "It's very sad, in a way, you know, because we've done all these, and this is the last one." 

Soon after beginning his address, Trump claimed without evidence that he was leading Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in early Michigan voting, even though results cannot be reported until polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

"But just pretend we're losing a little bit, because we want to put on a display tomorrow of unity and everything," Trump said. "This will be the single greatest victory, politically speaking, in the history of our country."

As he’d done in earlier rallies, Trump claimed he would do “great things” for the Michigan auto industry and attacked critics. He called Harris a “radical left lunatic,” criticized former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton, while praising the oratorical skills of Winston Churchill. 

Trump took the stage at about 12:20 a.m., and by the time his remarks concluded nearly two hours later, the crowd had thinned considerably.

He twice ushered Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib on stage, predicting support from Arab Americans would help him secure election. “If we win this state, you’re going to be very responsible," he told Ghalib. 

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Out of either superstition or shrewdness, Trump chose to close out his campaign in Grand Rapids for the third time, just as he did in 2016 and 2020.

Winning Michigan along the road to a national victory would mean the reclamation of a state Trump himself turned into a presidential battleground eight years prior with his stunning 11,000-vote victory over Hillary Clinton.

Democrats, on the other hand, are hoping to maintain an unbroken six-year streak of statewide electoral victories following Trump’s 2016 election by carrying the state for Kamala Harris, and in turn play a potentially critical role in electing the nation’s first female president.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rallied supporters Monday night in Detroit, where he was joined by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and musical guests Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Stipe and The War and Treaty.

In a brief speech, Walz claimed Democrats have "momentum" in the race, in no small part because of support from women, who he said would "send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump, whether he likes it or not."

Walz closed his final campaign event with a plea: "Michigan, bring this thing home for America. Let's go."

A tight race

If polls are accurate, Michigan’s race could again be exceedingly close. No more than a percentage point or two separate the candidates in nearly every recent, reliable poll. 

But because of the margin of errors in those polls, either candidate could easily win by a wider margin than Joe Biden’s 2.8%, 154,000-vote victory in 2020. 

The level of attention both campaigns have paid Michigan illustrates the importance of the swing state. Trump, Harris and their running mates have made a combined 40 campaign stops since the beginning of October alone — more than one a day on average.

In their visits and through an onslaught of political advertising, each sought to reshape Michigan’s electoral coalitions into a historic victory. 

Harris wants to once again bring disaffected Republicans into the Democratic camp as a repudiation against Trump, who is seeking to make new inroads with key minority groups that may be receptive to his message — young Black men and Arab Americans in particular.

In the end, it still may come down to turnout, and that’s what has driven both campaigns in these final days, as each candidate has returned to past wells of electoral support to squeeze out every vote ahead of Election Day.

For Trump, that has meant visits to Macomb County and west Michigan, regions home to the base of support that brought him victory in 2020. For Harris, it was college towns. She flanked her podium with both maize and blue and green and white during campaign stops in Ann Arbor and East Lansing in the space of a week, vying from strong turnout among young voters. 

At least one expert is expecting Michigan to top the state’s record 73.2% voter participation rate of 2020. Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who coined the metric, used modeling to predict 73.9% of Michigan’s voting age population will cast a ballot this year. 

More than 1.2 million Michiganders cast ballots during the state’s new early in-person voting period, which ended Sunday. 

Nearly 2 million other Michiganders had cast absentee ballots as of Monday morning, meaning total early voting totals could still top the 3.3 million early ballots cast in 2020, when mail-in voting surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The weather forecast, however, could affect in-person voting Tuesday. Much of the lower peninsula was expected to experience rain for at least part of the day, and a large body of research has shown inclement weather can reduce turnout.

Conspiracy-weary election officials are also hoping against — but girding for — potential Election Day disruptions. 

 “We will be there with state, local and in some cases federal law enforcement to protect the process, protect the people in the process,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a Monday press conference. 

Harris’ closing argument

Harris, who was closing out her campaign in Pennsylvania on Monday night, rallied Sunday evening at Michigan State University, her latest attempt to boost youth voter turnout. 

Benson told reporters Monday that 17% of early, in-person voters were 18 to 30 years old, a positive sign for Democrats.

In her final Michigan campaign stop, Harris turned to a message of unity, telling her audience that “I see the promise of America in everyone who is here,” and urging them to help realize that promise. 

Missing from Harris’ speech was any direct reference to her Republican rival. It was reportedly her first rally since becoming the Democratic nominee in which Harris did not mention Trump by name, according to NBC News — an apparent attempt to close her campaign on a positive note. 

“We are here together, this incredible mix of people from every background, every stage of life, under one roof together, and we are here together for many reasons, including because we love our country,” Harris said. “And when you love something, you fight for it.”