Detroit: Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday went to the city of Detroit to attend a community forum as part of a push to peel Black voters from President Joe Biden ahead of November’s presidential elections.
As per a report from Reuters, Trump’s appearance at the black church drew a mix of curious residents and die-hard supporters, but little in the way of protests. Both Biden and Trump are targeting Michigan as a must-win state in a bid for the White House in this year’s elections in November.
The trump campaign has argued that Trump has a great opportunity to win over black voters, especially men who might be attracted to Trump’s economic and border security policies. Detroit is also the state where Trump lost to Biden four years ago and called it a corrupt state and said that the 2020 election results in the state of Detroit cannot be trusted.
A panel of locals, including activists and owners of small businesses, surrounded Trump at a table while he sat on stage at the 180 Church on the west side of the city, according to a Reuters report. US Representative Byron Donalds of Florida, a candidate for Trump’s vice presidential nomination, moderated the event.
Trump in his address focused on his core messages and blasted the Biden administration over high inflation, crime and illegal immigration which he said harmed black Americans in particular. As per a Reuters report, Trump said “They’re coming into your community and they’re taking your jobs. We have to get them out”, without presenting evidence.
Trump promised to impose tariffs on automobiles made in Mexico and other countries in order to revitalize the local car industry in Detroit. Trump’s presence was acknowledged by the church’s senior pastor, Lorenzo Sewell, who likened him to Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president. As per Reuters, Sewell said, “President Obama never came to the ‘hood. So, thank you”.
The event fell like a typical Trump rally. Many MAGA cap-adorned supporters waited for hours to get in, the line numbered in hundreds, not thousands and some of the attendees said that they were there just by chance. As the event began the church was not at capacity, it held a diverse audience of black and white people as per a Reuters report.
The street in front of the church was blocked by police, but there was no sign of protests. A dental clinic on the corner looked to take advantage of the crowd, having an employee hold a sign aloft that read, “Make your smile great again”.
Trump was found guilty on 34 felony charges of taking part in a plot to conceal the fact that he paid a porn star during the 2016 election, allegedly for an affair. In addition, he is charged separately for allegedly mishandling secret documents and meddling in the 2020 election. As per Reuters, some black voters have expressed their support for Donald Trump but his efforts to galvanize them have been met with resistance.
It has been acknowledged that Black Americans assisted Biden in winning the White House in 2020. Although Black voters have always been thought of as the Democratic Party’s most devoted voting demographic, recent polls have indicated some slipping of support among this group. Experts told Reuters that they do not anticipate a significant change in Black support as a result of Trump’s Detroit visit. However, moderate Republicans and independent voters who want to see him forge a wider coalition than just his supporters would find the visit appealing.
In May as per a Reuters/Ipsos poll, Biden led Trump 57% to 13% among Black registered voters; 16% said they were unsure of their vote, 8% said they would support another candidate, and 7% said they would not cast a ballot at all. In Michigan, where Biden defeated Trump by 2.7 percentage points in 2020, the Biden campaign has been stepping up its efforts.
