AUBURN HILLS, Mich.—The major presidential candidates held six campaign events in Michigan on Oct. 18, including an appearance by each in Oakland County, home to over a million of the state’s 8.4 million registered voters.
With 18 days remaining before the election, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris hammered home their core messages, each making a strong appeal to auto workers and Arab Muslims.
Arab Muslims comprise just under 3 percent of the state’s population.
The intense focus on Michigan underscores the importance of this state with its 15 electoral votes in a presidential race that is a virtual tie both here and in six other states.
Trump began with a visit to Hamtramck, a city in Wayne County that is an enclave of Detroit. The small municipality is the only Muslim-majority city in the United States. Mayor Amer Ghalib, a Democrat, has endorsed Trump.
Trump did not offer specifics for ending the wars in the Middle East but said he doubted Muslim voters would support Harris.
Earlier in the day, when arriving at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Trump hinted his support for not restraining Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s use of military force. Even though Biden “is trying to hold him back ... he probably should be doing the opposite, actually,” Trump said.
At an afternoon roundtable in the Oakland County community of Auburn Hills, Trump was joined by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers, and others to discuss problems affecting the state.
Participants commented on issues ranging from Chinese competition in the auto industry to health care and the morale of law enforcement officers. Trump repeated his promise to impose up to 200 percent tariffs or “whatever it takes” to prevent foreign competitors from dominating the auto industry.
Responding to a police officer’s comments on morale, Trump said, “We want to do [qualified] immunity” for police officers. “We also want to call for the death penalty for anybody killing a police officer.”
An hour later, speaking to a rally crowd at Detroit’s Huntington Center, Trump said that the country has been worse off under the Biden-Harris administration and that change is needed.
He repeated his promises to protect the auto industry, deport illegal immigrants, and improve the economy by increasing domestic energy production.
Election About ‘Different Visions’
Harris’s messaging throughout the day echoed her theme that the country is on the right track and a return to Trump’s leadership would turn the clock back to what she said to be darker days.
“This election is truly about two very different visions for our nation: Ours that is focused on the future; Donald Trump’s that is focused on the past,” Harris told attendees at a rally in Kent County.
“It’s time to turn the page,” she said, repeating her promises to protect abortion access and revitalize American industry.
In Lansing, Harris appeared at a UAW hall. Flanked by union members, the vice president promised to build up the auto industry.
“We will invest in manufacturing communities like Lansing. We will retool existing factories, hire locally, and work with unions to create good-paying jobs, including jobs that do not require a college degree, and we will protect the pensions of union workers and retirees,” she said.
Harris courted Arab Muslim voters at an evening rally in Oakland County. “Our Arab American community has deep and proud roots in the Detroit metro area,” Harris said.
Directly mentioning the impact of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon on civilians, Harris said, “I know this year has been very difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, it is devastating.”
She said that diplomacy is the way to bring “lasting stability across the Israel-Lebanon border.”
Some Muslim voters in Michigan have shown frustration with the Democrats over their support for Israel’s retaliatory attacks in Gaza against the terrorist group Hamas by voting “uncommitted” in large numbers in the state’s Democratic primary election. Leaders of the uncommitted movement have declined to endorse Harris but urged their constituents not to vote for Trump.
Michigan, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, form the “blue wall” of states that historically supported Democrats in presidential elections. That wall cracked in 2016 when Trump carried all three states but held in 2020 as Biden regained them.
Trump leads Harris by less than 1 percentage point in all three states, which are considered a tossup by Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections rating agency.
Trump carried Kent County in 2016; Biden won the county in 2020. Democrats carried both Oakland and Wayne Counties in 2016 and 2020.
Trump has held 15 separate events in Michigan dating back to April. Harris has visited the state seven times since becoming the Democratic nominee in July.
Early voting will be available in all counties in the state on Oct. 26. Detroit will begin early voting on Oct. 19. Canton Township and East Lansing will begin on Oct. 21.
