HOWELL, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — Former President Donald Trump spoke at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, taking aim at Vice President Kamala Harris and focusing on inflation, jobs, illegal immigration and law enforcement.
His visit takes place on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Trump’s running mate, US Senator JD Vance, recently held a press conference in the Shelby Township Police Department.
“(Harris) is, as you know, the most radical left-wing person ever considered for high office, certainly for the office of president. People don’t know the real Kamala, but I know her, and people who do what I do know her,” Trump said Tuesday. “She’s so far left that nobody can imagine it, and her true thoughts are there.”
Standing alongside sheriff’s deputies in the city of Howell, Trump denounced Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as the “leader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.
“Kamala Harris will bring crime, chaos, destruction and death,” Trump said, in one of many generalizations about a Harris-led America. “You will see levels of crime like you have never seen before. … I will bring law, order, security and peace.”
In recent weeks, Trump has sought to tone down the enthusiasm for Harris that he has generated since President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and endorsed her, offering both dire predictions about what Harris’ election would mean for the country and attempts by Trump’s advisers to organize events where he can try to draw concrete policy contrasts. Tuesday’s event in Michigan was about crime and public safety.
The event was the last one announced as being on the topic. Yet on those occasions, Trump has spent a lot of time attacking Harris personally and taking shots at Biden. In excerpts released before his speech, Trump’s campaign said he would seek the death penalty for child molesters and child traffickers; he did not mention that during his address.
Trump also mentioned the DNC, where Biden spoke along with First Lady Jill Biden and Hillary Clinton on the first day of the convention.
“I watched in amazement last night as they tried to pretend that everything was great, crime was great, the border was great. There was no problem at all. No inflation, nothing,” Trump said.
That Trump made such claims, surrounded by supportive law enforcement officials, stood in stark contrast to the Democratic National Convention. On Monday night in Chicago, speaker after speaker found ways to remind Americans that Trump is the first former president ever convicted of serious crimes, found civilly liable for sexual assault and still faces multiple charges, including for his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.
Ahead of Tuesday’s event, Harris’ campaign fired back at Trump, saying, “The racists and white supremacists who marched in Trump’s name in Howell last month all saw him praise Hitler, defend neo-Nazis in Charlottesville and tell right-wing extremists to ‘stand back and stand by.’ Trump’s actions have emboldened them, and Michiganders can expect more of the same when he comes to town next week. But voters here support politicians like Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz who are intent on bringing us together, and we will continue to work to stop Trump and his far-right allies who promote division, hatred and violence.”
Michigan sheriff warns of “scumbags who want to cause trouble” ahead of Trump’s visit
Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy provided details ahead of Trump’s visit and asked residents to be respectful while addressing the white supremacist demonstrations that took place in the city last month.
In a video posted on the department’s Facebook account, Murphy alluded to Trump’s Visiting Grand Rapids in Julywhen white supremacists held demonstrations in Howell, with some chanting “Heil Hitler” during the march.
“In the last month, a few people have come here to cause a little bit of a ruckus, to spread hate speech and to spread crap about white supremacy,” Murphy said. “These people are from out of town; these are not Livingston County people… I’m just asking us, the residents of Livingston County, to do what we do and be respectful like we are. I hope everyone gets that message, but there are going to be some scumbags that want to stir things up.”
Previous reports have highlighted Howell’s troubled past, including a time in the 1970s when Ku Klux Klan meetings were allegedly held on the farm of KKK Grand Dragon Robert E. Miles. Miles reportedly held white supremacist rallies and was also convicted of bombing a school bus.
Murphy made it clear at the beginning of the video that Trump’s visit, which will take place at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, is intended as a press conference and not a political event.
“There will be about 150 people here from the press. There will be some special guests who are coming by invitation only, and when I say some, that’s about 70. So, again, it’s really just a press conference; the former president is coming to talk to the press about security and crime,” he said.
“That’s really the purpose of this post: People tend to be very, very passionate about politics, tend to be very passionate about former President Trump, whether it’s a passionate yes or a passionate no,” he added. “So whether you plan to come to cheer or whether you plan to jeer, I would ask you this: Please, please, please be respectful. The national spotlight is going to be on us; I’m sure the national news is going to get some pictures of people holding up signs. We don’t need those vulgar signs out there; we don’t need that incitement.”
