Donald Trump, Kamala Harris target Detroit as early in-person voting begins

• Kamala Harris campaigned in Detroit on Saturday as the city began early in-person voting, urging big turnout
• Donald Trump rallied in Detroit on Friday, arguing his Democratic rival would 'reduce your future to rubble'
• While Detroit is expected to back Harris, Trump aims to peel off enough support to win statewide

DETROIT — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Saturday wrapped up a multi-day campaign swing through Michigan by promoting the start of in-person voting in Detroit. 

Detroit is taking advantage of new laws allowing cities to create early voting centers for citizens to cast ballots in person, starting Oct. 19. Harris, wearing a “Detroit Vs Everybody” shirt, held a pep rally in the gymnasium of Western International High School in Southwest Detroit. She urged residents to smash turnout records in other states that started early voting for the Nov. 5 election. 

“We have the power to make the decision about the direction of our country and we know this election is about two very different visions for our future,” Harris said. “Like the people of Detroit we have grit, we have excellence, we have history.” 

Harris’ event came on day after former President Donald Trump said Detroit’s “real comeback” won’t start unless he returns to the White House during a campaign rally at the city’s riverfront convention center. 

Trump encouraged the crowd at Huntington Place to “get the hell out there” and vote early.

“Kamala doesn’t have a plan to save Detroit,” Trump said, warning that she would “reduce your future to rubble.” 

‘Proud like Detroit’

Harris spoke for roughly 10 minutes on Saturday, giving a truncated version of speeches she’s delivered in Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Oakland County this week. On Tuesday, she also recorded a radio town hall-style interview with Charlamange Tha God in Detroit. 

Lizzo, a singer and artist who was born in the city and moved to Texas at age 10, briefly took the stage to support Harris and declare her pride in Detroit.

“They say if Kamala Harris wins, the whole country will be like Detroit,” the singer said. “Proud like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit. The same Detroit that innovated the auto industry and the music industry. Put some respect on Detroit’s name.” 

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Some attendees hoped to hear more from her amid concerns that Harris’ message is not landing with undecided voters and even some supporters. 

Jasmine Johnson said she typically votes Democrat but is unsure how to feel about Harris. She said women’s rights, protecting abortion access and reducing the cost of housing are her top issues. Johnson is a renter and was interested in Harris’ plan to offer $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers. 

“I’m still learning about her, I wouldn’t say I have feelings toward it, I’m still learning why she’s running,” Johnson said. “I had a chance to watch the presidential debate. I feel like there were a lot of unanswered questions.”

Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero, an immigrant from Mexico representing Southwest Detroit communities, said the campaign has been light on substance. She said Detroit canvassers are reporting low enthusiasm and more openness to Trump. 

“Democrats are missing the mark completely,” Santiago-Romero said. “The messaging needs to be focused on all that we’ve done for you and me. I’m realizing that me and my team are going to have to begin planning around Trump in office and what that would mean for us.” 

Santiago-Romero said the election reminds her of Trump’s surprising 2016 victory in Michigan, as local officials are offering advice while being ignored by the national campaign. 

“What I saw Harris do right off the bat was just memes,” Santiago-Romero said. “It was weeks worth of memes, nothing around policies, nothing around promises, and you don’t win votes for memes. People care about facts. They don’t care about celebrities.” 

Other Democrats had a more optimistic view of the campaign’s work to turn out voters. 

“I know the enthusiasm is there,” said state Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit. “But indecision is a decision.” 

Carter said he was unsettled by Detroit rapper Trick Trick and boxer Tommy “Hitman” Hearns endorsing Trump, but it’s unlikely to influence voters. Trump has been campaigning aggressively in Detroit, holding a Friday rally at Huntington Place. 

Detroit resident Ayanna Thomas said pro-Trump ads running in Detroit are “damaging” to Harris, and she’s received around a dozen pieces of Trump campaign mail. She’s been phone banking for the campaign but is not as confident as she was when Harris became the nominee several months ago. 

Trump targets Detroit voters

Trump’s Friday speech in Detroit heavily emphasized illegal immigration, claiming a “migrant” invasion is overrunning cities with violent criminals and snatching jobs from Americans. Trump pledged to invoke a 1798 law allowing the federal government to deport immigrants based on a declared war.

The former president promised a “stunning rebirth” for Detroit. 

Trump is aggressively campaigning in Detroit, with six visits by the former president and his running mate JD Vance this year. A campaign spokesperson said Trump is going on offense to grow Trump’s support in the Democratic stronghold. 

Trump met supporters at a Hamtramck organizing office and attended a roundtable on business issues in Auburn Hills before the Detroit rally. 

The campaign is focused on turning out Black men, particularly low-propensity voters who feel financially worse off under the Biden-Harris administration. Trump’s campaign is depending on surrogates like Detroit Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, who led the crowd in prayer and hosts weekly “Souls to the Polls” discussions at 180 Church to organize Republican voters. 

Trump earned 7,700 Detroit votes in 2016, compared to nearly 235,000 for Democrat Hillary Clinton, while in 2020 he improved to 12,700 as Democrats had just 234,000 for Biden.

The Trump campaign believes its focus on Detroit has pushed Harris to work harder to turn out voters in the important battleground state. Trump flipped Michigan in 2016 but lost the state in 2020. 

Campaign mail is being sent to Detroit voters. Detroit School Board Member Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, a Democrat, said she’s received 20 pieces of Trump mail. MIGOP ran a radio ad featuring former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who endorsed President Trump, using portions of a speech he gave at an Oakland County Republican event. 

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, met with members of Divine Nine Greek organizations at the historic Alpha house in Detroit’s Brush Park neighborhood Friday morning. Warnock campaigned with U.S. Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin at Cass Technical High School earlier in the day. 

Warnock told attendees that voter apathy was a greater threat to Harris than Black men voting for Trump. 

“I don’t buy this messaging that there will be these huge waves of Black men voting for Donald Trump,” Warnock said. “There was some last time and this time there will be some.” 

Warnock predicted Trump would lead a national ban on abortion if elected, which would have devastating effects on Black women who face higher rates of maternal mortality. Warnock said abortion is a “family issue” Black men should care about. 

He cited the death of Amber Thurman, a 28-year-old Georgia woman who left behind a 6-year-old son when doctors denied her an emergency abortion. 

The Gamma Epsilon Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity has operated out of its Detroit house since 1939, making it the oldest fraternity house in the Divine Nine. Chapter President Harry Todd encouraged his fraternity brothers to help elect Harris.  

“Black men who aren’t here, I want to grab you by the arm and say, come on, brother. Let’s wake up,” Todd said. 

Former President Barack Obama is visiting Detroit to campaign for Harris on Oct. 22. 

Make Detroit Great Again? 

Trump supporters carried “Make Detroit Great Again” signs showing the city’s skyline. Trump briefly brought boxer Tommy “Hitman” Hearns and rapper Trick Trick on stage. 

Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra encouraged attendees to take advantage of early voting options. He said he feels momentum swinging in their direction. 

“We’re going to win this,” Hoekstra said. “That doesn’t mean we take it for granted, it means we work a little harder each and every day.”

Attendees said immigration and the economy are their top concerns. Omar Mitchell, owner of Table No. 2 restaurant in downtown Detroit, told the crowd his business was performing better under the Trump administration. People have less money to dine out now, he said. Mitchell encouraged attendees to “coach” and rally Black voters around Trump. 

“We need to get the economy back to what it used to be,” Mitchell said. “We need to get this dollar strong. Detroit is the heart of Michigan.” 

Monica Williams, a 54-year-old Ypsilanti resident, said she voted for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016 and as a write-in ballot in 2020. She’s since become frustrated with “condescending” Democrats and the “destruction” of Southeast Michigan in her lifetime. 

“Kamala did nothing,” Williams said. “You’re going to pop someone in and we’re supposed to support her. I believe Kamala is fake.” 

Bryan Small, a 30-year-old Westland resident, said he grew up in Detroit and voted for Democrats until 2020. He became a Republican during the pandemic, saying he felt Trump was wrongly blamed for the virus spinning out of control. 

A week earlier, Trump disparaged the city during a speech before the Detroit Economic Club. Trump called Detroit “a mess” and said the rest of the country would “end up” like the city if Harris is elected. 

Trump’s remark about Detroit didn’t bother Small. 

“He was right,” Small said. “The people who were mad weren’t here in 2008… I won’t say Detroit is the worst city. I grew up in Northwest Goldberg. We need residents to get opportunities.” 

Small said Democrats are “pandering” to Black men by promising to legalize marijuana and regulate crypto-currency. 

“They think we’re dumb,” Small said. “Democrats aren’t for working people.” 

Canton resident Matthew Thomas, 70, said he voted for the Democratic ticket in 2016 and 2020. Thomas changed his views during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that he saw Democrats weaponize institutions and compared news to Nazi propagandists. 

Thomas was collecting signatures for a petition circulated by billionaire Elon Musk in support of the First and Second Amendments. Thomas said he’s paid $47 per signature and has gathered 30 signatures so far. 

Trump praised Musk during his remarks, thanking him for campaigning on his behalf in Pennsylvania. 

Democrats predict a tight race 

Trump earned 5% of Detroit’s support in 2020, with 12,899 votes. It was a modest improvement from 2016, when Trump earned just 3% of Detroit’s support – 7,682 votes total.

A Trump campaign spokesman said any gains in Detroit votes could make an impact in Michigan, considering President Joe Biden won by 154,000 votes in 2020 and Trump won by 10,700 in 2016.

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, said he’s nervous about how close the overall race appears to be in its final weeks. Thanedar said it should be a “landslide” for Harris, but people are feeling the pressure of inflation and wrongly trust Trump to improve their financial standing. 

“Some people are convinced that Trump is better on the economy,” Thanedar said. “He is not. He doesn’t have a plan besides giving big tax breaks to the rich. We need to get our message out.” 

State data shows 54,991 Detroiters cast absentee ballots as of Saturday, representing more than half of all residents who received an absentee ballot.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan led a march from the high school to cast his ballot for Harris at an early voting center established at Clark Park. The city set up 14 locations where citizens can vote in person, regardless of where in Detroit they live. There are two in each City Council district. 

“Michigan has never seen this before, Detroit has never seen it,” Duggan said. “For Detroiters, it’s a tradition to go to the polls. Now to be able to have another 16 days you can have that same experience no matter what is most convenient.” 

Phillip Stevenson and Ismal Gonzales, both residents in Southwest Detroit, protested outside the event with a sign reading “20,000 children murdered by USA and Israel with your money” in Spanish.

Stevenson, who identified himself as Jewish, said Israel’s war in Gaza is preventing him from supporting Harris, though she could earn his vote by opposing further military support. Stevenson said Harris’ response to concerns voiced by Arab American and Muslim voters has been “superficial.” 

“When I see images every day of children in plastic bags or babies burning, I have to do the right thing,” Stevenson said. “(That means) advocating for a ceasefire, given our tax dollars are going to fund a genocide going on, and an arms embargo.” 

Harris was interviewed by national reporters in Detroit before the rally. She said there are “so many tragic stories” coming out of Gaza, but “the first and most tragic” is the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. Harris said it’s important to recognize “an extraordinary number of innocent Palestinians have been killed” as well as the deaths of innocent Israelis. 

Gonzales said he feels Harris has posed herself as being tough on immigration. He hasn’t received any outreach from either campaign. Gonzales is undecided as well but hasn’t voted in past presidential elections. 

“There’s a large immigrant community here and it’s totally intertwined with this (war),” Gonzales said. 

Contrasting messages 

Harris encouraged the crowd to watch Trump’s rallies to see how his message contrasts with hers. Trump’s Friday rally heavily focused on an alleged “invasion” of migrants. 

“In a community like Southwest Detroit, and around the region, where we are a framework of first-generation Americans (Trump) looks at people who are immigrants as less than,” said State Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield. “He thrives on divisiveness.” 

Moss said Michigan “walked away” from Trump in 2020 and the former president has failed to make a compelling case for why he should occupy the White House again. 

“This is the first presidential election since Jan. 6, 2021, and I can’t tell you how many voters that touched – it weighs heavily on their mind,” Moss said. “We can have different visions for the future of the country but you can’t have those debates when the last guy who left office left it in an insurrection. There are Republicans in Michigan who are eager to defeat Trumpism so they can have a normal party again.” 

Duggan said he didn’t gather much from Trump’s speech, referencing a technical malfunction that left Trump standing on stage without sound for a portion of the rally. 

“You know I caught 18 minutes of it, but I couldn’t hear it,” Duggan said.