Former President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump made a campaign stop in Livingston County on Tuesday to deliver a speech on public safety, including jobs and the economy, and predicted the demise of the local auto industry if he loses the election in November.
The Republican candidate is touring the swing states as a counterpart to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week.
Trump was flanked by Republican county sheriffs as he attacked Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, who was too soft on crime and illegal immigration and did not support the police.
“For the last four years, the Marxist left has waged a bitter war against law enforcement in our country,” he said. “They have stripped some of these police officers of their dignity, their spirit and their lives, and you can see why crime in our country is so out of control.”
Data from the FBI and Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that violent crime is declining after a sharp increase at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump also took aim at United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who sharply rebuked the former president at the Democratic National Convention. Trump also sharply criticized the auto industry’s shift to electric vehicles and Harris’ support for that change.
“If I’m not elected, every auto worker here will lose their job within three years – every auto worker in this state,” he said. “They’re all made in China.”
Trump also accused prosecutors of targeting him. Earlier this year, he was convicted in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records.
“They don’t arrest anyone anymore and they shouldn’t arrest anyone who says the election was rigged, but they like it,” he said. “They go after people like me, but they don’t go after people who kill people. It’s a disgrace what happened in our country.”
Lavora Barnes, chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said Trump is misrepresenting his record on crime and public safety.
“His coming here to talk about safety is ridiculous – violent crime has skyrocketed under his leadership and he is pursuing an extreme agenda with his Project 2025 that would defund law enforcement, eliminate common sense gun safety measures and give Trump unchecked power,” she said in a statement from the Michigan Democratic Party.
Harris said investments in electric vehicle production would keep vehicle supply chains in the U.S.
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