Donald Trump, earlier this week, insulted the city of Detroit- while speaking in Detroit.
In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Trump declared, “You wanna know the truth? Our whole country will be like Detroit if Kamala Harris wins the election.” It was an odd strategy for a presidential candidate to insult the city he was campaigning in, especially in a crucial swing state like Michigan.
Trump also said that “we’re a developing nation too. Just take a look at Detroit,” adding that the city is “developing area … hell of a lot more than most places in China.”
And now, the mayor of Detroit has responded, touting the successes Detroit has seen since its municipal bankruptcy a decade ago, both with the recent success of its often-moribund sports teams and a reverse in longterm trends when it comes to crime and population.
Detroit just hosted the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are headed to the Super Bowl, crime is down and our population is growing. Lots of cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help.
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) October 10, 2024
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The Tigers, in fact, played a playoff game the day of Trump’s speech.
Duggan continued to defend his city:
Numbers and Facts don’t lie. Detroit is the beacon of light. The beacon of progress. The beacon of resurgence. https://t.co/0pUgCCaIXJ
— Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) October 11, 2024
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan also weighed in to defend the honor of Michigan’s largest city, telling Trump to “keep Detroit out of your mouth.”
Detroit is the epitome of “grit,” defined by winners willing to get their hands dirty to build up their city and create their communities—something Donald Trump could never understand.
So keep Detroit out of your mouth. And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this in… https://t.co/Q5VHuCfbkd
— Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) October 10, 2024
Donald Trump became the first Republican in several cycles to win Michigan in 2016, although Joe Biden came back to win the state in 2020. Michigan is expected to once again serve as a major battleground in 2024, with most recent polls showing the race in that state as extremely close. Trump has also insulted other big cities in swing states, such as Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Atlanta, accusing all of them of engaging in election skulduggery in 2020.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune image library.
