DETROIT– Former President Donald Trump criticized Detroit while delivering remarks to an economics group there Thursday, saying the entire country would end up like the city if his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is elected.
“The whole country will say: do you want to know the truth? It will be like Detroit,” the Republican presidential candidate said. “Our whole country will end up looking like Detroit if she’s your president.”
Trump’s comments came as he addressed the Detroit Economic Club in a speech appealing to the auto industry, a key segment of the population in Michigan’s largest city. But he made contradictory comments about Detroit during the speech, saying it was a “developing” city, in an apparent compliment.
Democrats in the state were quick to criticize Trump for his comments. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan praised the city’s recent developments decrease in crime And growing population.
“Many cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help,” he said on social media.
U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, who represents Detroit, said on social media that Trump should “keep Detroit and our people out of your mouth.” Referring to Trump’s efforts to win over Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel said on X: “This guy calls us ugly and then asks us out.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has been a key surrogate for the Democratic presidential ticket, fired back at Trump, saying on X: “And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this come November.”
Wayne County, home to Detroit, has not been kind to Trump in previous elections. In both 2016 and 2020, Trump received about 30% of the vote in Wayne, losing the county by wide margins.
Trump’s campaign said in a statement after his appearance that Detroit “has suffered from the globalist policies championed by Kamala Harris” that have led to production being moved abroad.
“As President Trump emphasized in his speech, his policies will usher in a new era of economic success and stability for Detroit, allowing the city to reach its full potential,” said Victoria LaCivita, Trump’s communications director in Michigan.
Trump’s comments come as many in the city feel Detroit has turned the corner from national joke to national appeal. Nearly a decade after its embarrassing bankruptcy, the Motor City has stabilized its finances, improved city services, absorbed population loss that has displaced more than a million people since the 1950s and made progress in cleaning up the blight across its 130 square miles .
Detroit is now a destination for conventions and meetings. Detroit started in April an attendance record for the NFL draft as more than 775,000 fans poured into the city center for the three-day event. And just a few hours after Trump’s comments, thousands of people were expected to flock to the same area as the city’s baseball team, the Tigers, aiming for their victory. AL Division Series.
Some event attendees understood that Trump’s comment in Detroit referred to the city’s past financial problems.
“I don’t think it was intentional on his part,” said Judy Moenck, 68. “There was talk of a blight. Now a tremendous amount of work has been done, and Detroiters will probably feel a little hurt by that.”
Her husband, Dean Moenck, 74, who said he no longer considers himself a Republican in Trump’s Republican Party, said the comment fits with his campaign rhetoric style, “highlighting the negative things about Detroit.”
This is not the first time Trump has insulted the city in which he is campaigning.
While in New York for his civil fraud and criminal trials, he routinely bashed the city, calling it dirty and crime-ridden and arguing that its mostly Democratic residents could be swayed to vote for him over concerns about migrants and security.
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.