Donald Trump appeared on stage with a local imam and an Arab-American mayor at his rally in suburban Detroit, saying the influential group of voters they represent could swing the election in his direction.
“I am thrilled to accept the support of these highly respected leaders,” Trump said, bringing Imam Belal Alzuhairi to the stage. Also speaking was Bill Bazzi, the mayor of Dearborn Heights, who was born in Lebanon.
“We, as Muslims, stand with President Trump because he promises peace, and not war,” Alzuhairi told the crowd of several thousand people, who cheered loudly. ‘The bloodshed must stop all over the world. And I think this man can make that happen. Personally, I believe God saved his life twice for a reason,” he cheered.
Trump also spoke about the political influence of Muslims and Arab Americans, who number an estimated 200,000 people in the state of Michigan.
“They could swing the election one way or the other,” Trump said.
It was just one dramatic moment at a campaign event where Trump also tried to clean up his comments about insulting the Motor City.
Trump appeared alongside Arab-American and Muslim leaders after receiving several major endorsements. He said the groups of voters they represent ‘could turn the election’
On Saturday, he said he meant the city “needs help” as he ran through Detroit during a speech in the Motor City.
‘Help is needed. So I said help is needed,” Trump said in Novi, referring to his speech to the Detroit Economic Club.
“I can’t be positive,” he explained. ‘I will be positive – in two years I will be a positive person, why is that?’
He had previously called the city a “mess” and compared it to a developing country. “Detroit is more of a developing area than most places in China,” he said. That was before he called the country a “garbage bin,” a comment he repeated Saturday, pointing to illegal immigration.
Trump spoke to several thousand supporters at the Suburban Collection Showplace. He hopes that traditional Democratic support will be curtailed not only from Arab-Americans, but also with the help of union members and others who work in the auto industry. He claims he will revive this support.
After criticizing Kamala Harris, who supported former Rep. Liz Cheney, as a “war monger,” Trump said of Arab and Muslim voters, “They don’t deal with transgender surgeries.” They don’t like men playing in women’s sports.’
Trump claimed Harris would plunge the country into wars and threatened: “Your sons and daughters will eventually be drafted.”
“The bloodshed has to stop all over the world, and I think this man can make that happen,” said Imam Belal Alzuhairi, who spoke at Trump’s rally.
Attendees cheered as Trump ripped Kamala Harris and said he would make the auto industry great again
He also mocked Harris for relying on celebrities to organize her campaign rallies, and called for a return to same-day voting — even as he claimed he won in early voting in Michigan that began Saturday.
“They have to use people to get people to come,” Trump said, without mentioning Beyoncé and Willie Nelson, who performed with Harris on Friday night, or Bruce Springsteen, who performed at her Thursday rally.
‘They booed everyone. They thought she was going to perform,” Trump claimed.
He also accused Harris of bringing in celebrities to boost audience numbers after she topped 20,000 at the largest rally of the entire campaign in Houston.
“We’re not sending any buses, everyone’s coming,” Trump said, though a line of coaches and school buses ferried people to and from his rally in Traverse City on Friday.
Once again, Trump did not shy away from insulting his rival. He said she “can’t talk,” “destroys” everything she touches and is a “stupid person.”
The comments delighted the rally crowd but could hurt Trump among independents and other suburban women who hold sway.
“I think that’s great because we’re already ahead in early voting, something no Republican in Michigan has done since they went to this ridiculous system,” Trump boasted.
He then denounced the prolonged vote. “All you have to do is have a one-day ballot, a voter ID card and paper ballots,” Trump said, “and you know what, you’ll have no problem.”
He said it would only take 8 percent and that there would be a result around 8:30 or 9:30, and that there was “nothing up in the air going on.”
That comment seemed to suggest high-tech vote switching, which was at the heart of Trump allies’ 2020 fraud complaints that resulted in a massive settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.
This follows reports that Trump will declare victory again on election night, even as votes are still being counted.
Trump and Harris were both fully involved in the battle for Michigan Saturday, as the candidates campaigned miles apart with the presidency on the line — and a popular former first lady joined the fray.
The long lines at early polling places in Kalamazoo were so long that voters had to turn away after an hour and a half.
Trump made the rare decision to give up his own bed and spend the night in Detroit after his Friday evening rally in Traverse City in northern Michigan started nearly three hours late following Trump’s wide-ranging podcast interview with Joe Rogan.
He rallied thousands of supporters at an indoor venue in Novi, a Detroit suburb, with polls showing a tight race in Michigan and all seven battleground states.
‘This campaign is on fire, you can feel it!’ said Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain, as she warmed up Trump’s crowd in the Detroit suburb of Novi.
Harris will hold a campaign rally with Michelle Obama at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo later Saturday — the first day of early voting in the state.
She is considered a favored campaign manager who rallied Democrats at the party’s convention in Chicago in August.
Trump will hold another rally later Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania
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It is the 2024 campaign debut for the former first lady, one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party and a dream candidate to replace Joe Biden, 81.
Harris supporters lined up early on the crisp fall day for a chance to attend the Democratic presidential candidate’s rally.
The event places Harris about 100 miles away from Trump. There were already lines around the block.
She will be back in the state on Monday, her campaign just announced, with a rally that is also being billed as a concert with singer Maggie Rogers in Ann Arbor.
That event is a clear move to try to boost the score among young voters, who had drifted away from Democrats with Biden at the top of the ticket.
Now Harris is relying on young voters and women to overcome Trump’s gains among minority men, and a wild card of the roughly 200,000 Arab-American voters.
California Rep. Darrell Issa referred to the Arab-Israeli conflict “as an Arab American” in his remarks to the Novi crowd.
He said the peace process ‘is in ruins today’ [and] can only be restored by a return to the kind of engagement we saw during the four Trump years.” Issa’s father was the son of Lebanese immigrants.
Steven Miller, a former Trump adviser, pointed to the support Trump received in the election from Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan.
“He’s going to set all kinds of records,” Miller told the crowd in Novi. “That’s another reason why he’s going to win Michigan.”
More than 1.4 million people in Michigan have already cast ballots even before early in-person voting started Saturday, according to tracking by the University of Florida Election Lab.
A long line of Harris supporters waited to attend her rally with Michelle Obama in Kalamazoo, MI on Saturday
Even President Joe Biden is getting in on the action, flying to Pittsburgh even after making a rhetorical stumble at his last event, in surprisingly close New Hampshire. There he said “lock him up” when talking about Trump, then walked back to the comment to say “politics.”
Before boarding Air Force One, Biden was asked about Trump’s comments comparing the US to a “garbage bin.”
“Trump has no class,” Biden responded, keeping his response clean.
The race in Michigan couldn’t be much closer. The polls are almost even, with Trump only a few tenths of a percent ahead in the RealClearPolitics average.
After accusing Harris of taking it easy and spending time preparing for TV appearances, Trump plans to immediately fly to State College, Pennsylvania, where he will hold a major rally in another battleground state that is purely is a toss-up.
Trump is taking a page from John McCain’s playbook in his race against Barack Obama and trying to use Harris’ string of celebrities against her.
On Friday night, he accused his rival of “partying” as Israel attacked Iran amid continued fears of a spreading conflict in the Middle East.
She had accepted the endorsement of high-wattage singer Beyonce Knowles, who spoke but did not perform.
The vice president focused her speech on reproductive rights, and a series of speakers shared deeply personal stories of women impacted by Texas’ abortion ban.