CNN —
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump clashed in Michigan on Friday, with both men roaming the state in a close race over the potentially decisive 15 electoral votes.
Both were concentrated in vote-rich Oakland County, northwest of Detroit. The county is becoming more educated, has a more diverse population, and a suburban revolt against Trump has shifted the political landscape in favor of Democrats in recent years.
Harris told a crowd in Waterford Township that Trump is “full of big promises, but he always fails to deliver” and called him “the person responsible for the greatest loss of manufacturing jobs in American history.” “One of the people.”
He emphasized his support for labor unions and said he would urge the federal government and private companies to hire more workers without college degrees.
It’s a blue-collar pitch that Harris also made Friday in Grand Rapids and Lansing, the western Michigan cities of Kent County that went from Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020. He criticized the company’s performance and spoke to union members. The former president is “no friend of workers.”
Before concluding the night with a Detroit rally, President Trump also stopped in Oakland County for a roundtable in Auburn Hills. He said he would encourage American car manufacturing by imposing high tariffs on imported cars.
“I think the word tariff is more beautiful than love,” President Trump said.
Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin make up the “Blue Wall.” The three Great Lakes battlegrounds gave Trump a victory in the 2016 election, then reversed and handed Biden the White House four years later.
Biden won Michigan by about 154,000 votes, but Trump won a historic victory in 2016, defeating Hillary Clinton by less than 11,000 votes, the first since 1992. ended the Democratic Party’s winning streak in the state.
More than 944,000 early votes have already been cast in Michigan, representing 13% of the state’s active registered voters, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Both campaigns are targeting specific potential voters in Michigan, including union members, black voters, suburban moderates, and Arab Americans dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s response to the Israeli war in Gaza. There is.
President Trump visited his campaign office Friday in Hamtramck, a city with a large Muslim and Arab-American population. He sided with the city’s mayor, Amer Gharib, who recently supported the former president.
Trump, who has promised to carry out mass deportations of illegal immigrants if re-elected, was once asked by a mayor: They are second and third generation immigrants. Therefore, we urge you to respond to these accusations and make our community heard. What do you say to them? ”
The former president responded, “It’s fake news.”
President Trump told reporters earlier in the day that he planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu soon, adding that Netanyahu was “doing a good job.” He said Biden is “trying to hold him back, but perhaps we should do the opposite.”
Hours later, Harris acknowledged it had been a “very difficult” year for members of the Arab American community in the Waterford area.
He touted support for “Arab-American leaders” and cited Wayne County Deputy Executive Assad Taaf, noting that Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon have sizable Arab-American He said he was aware of the inconvenience caused to members of the Muslim community. We have proud roots in the Detroit metropolitan area. ”
Harris also reiterated her belief that the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could create an opportunity to restart negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“Sinwar’s death can and must be a turning point. To finally end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home, and end the suffering once and for all, no one must seize this opportunity,” she said. “And I continue to believe that diplomacy is the solution to bringing lasting stability to the Israeli-Lebanese border.”
Earlier in the day, the vice president spoke with union members in Lansing, where Trump disparaged autoworkers, attacked United Auto Workers President Sean Fein, and accused him of overseeing the union. At that time, a video was shown in which he said, “I hated paying overtime.” company before entering politics.
President Trump is wooing Michigan auto workers by promising hefty tariffs on cars imported from Mexico and China. He also proposes making interest on car loans tax deductible.
The Harris campaign’s decision to emphasize President Trump’s own words comes as Democrats primarily support Harris and are more closely aligned with union leaders who work closely with the party on labor policy and, in some cases, with Republicans on cultural issues. This was done in an effort to bridge the gap between union members and union members who work together with the union. problem.
“Hear what he has to say,” Harris said after the 35-second video was played to the audience. “He’s saying that autoworkers are basically engaging in child’s play, and that kids can do it too.”
“He has his own club, but let me tell you, union officials are not part of his club. Let’s be clear about that. It doesn’t matter what he does at the rally,” she said. added. “Compared to children’s work?” When we know that the work you are doing is complex. You’re doing it with great care. you work hard. you are very skilled. You are highly trained and the best auto worker in the world is yourself. ”
President Trump’s visit to Detroit marks his first return to the city since he insulted the Motor City at a Detroit Economic Club event last week. In his remarks, President Trump compared Detroit, the state’s largest city, to a “developing country” and warned that if Harris wins on November 5, “the entire country will become like Detroit.”
Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “Fight Like Hell” PAC aired a radio ad Friday highlighting President Trump’s disdain for Detroit.
“Donald Trump recently came to Detroit and said bad things about our city. He called Detroit a failure and a mess. We know he’s wrong. Detroit’s People don’t give up on each other or their cities, and that’s something Donald Trump will never understand,” Whitmer says in the 30-second spot.
Returning to the city on Friday, Trump told the crowd that Election Day “will be the day of American liberation.”
President Trump said he believes Detroit has “tremendous potential” but that Democrats are “wreaking havoc on this place” and ruining its long-promised revival.
“I declare to the people of this state: By the end of my term, the whole world will be talking about the miracle of Michigan and the remarkable rebirth of Detroit,” he said.
The headline for this article has been updated.
CNN’s Ali Main and Ethan Cohen contributed to this report.
