Donald Trump attacked the city of Detroit in a speech as the city struggled to vote.
The former US president and Republican candidate spoke Thursday at the Detroit Economic Club in Michigan’s largest city, one of the most important battleground states for the 2024 US election.
However, President Trump’s speech was not a speech with a fixed content, but instead consisted of long, rambling conversations, and he cited the recent history of economic decline in Detroit, which had its heyday as the home of American car production. I couldn't stop criticizing the city for doing so.
President Trump said this while talking about China being a developing country. “Well, we’re a developing country too. Look at Detroit. Detroit is a more developed region than other parts of China.”
He then returned to the theme, warning of economic disaster if his Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, wins the November election.
“If she were your president, our entire country would be like Detroit. It would be a mess,” Trump said.
Michigan polls show that Harris and Trump remain in a very close race.
The state’s Democrats were outraged by the insult and saw it as an opportunity to score political points.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer posted on Twitter/X: “Detroit is the epitome of ‘grit,’ defined by winners who get their hands dirty and build their own city and create their own community, something Donald Trump never understood. So don’t talk about Detroit. And you better believe the people of Detroit won’t forget this in November.”
Detroit has struggled in the face of the decline of American manufacturing. Just over a decade ago, the city became the nation’s largest municipality to file for bankruptcy.
However, Detroit has been touted as a symbol of America’s post-industrial city in recovery, with numerous projects aimed at revitalizing its downtown and attempts to rehabilitate and reinvest its housing stock. In May, the city reported its first population increase in decades.
That sense of resilience was the theme of Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s response. He posted: “Detroit just held the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are heading to the Super Bowl, crime is down and population is up. Many cities should be like Detroit. . And we did it all without Trump’s help.”
