LANSING.- Donald Trump visited Michigan on Sunday as part of his attempts to recapture territory that helped him get to the White House, but four years later it got out of hand.
Campaigning to return to the presidency while facing federal indictment for allegedly mishandling confidential documents, Trump delivered a speech in suburban Detroit, where he lost ground between 2016 and 2020 and would need to catch up if he becomes the Republican nominee of 2024. It would have to reverse the recent trend in Michigan, where Democrats have made some of their biggest gains nationally since Trump failed to get re-elected.
Trump spoke at the Lincoln Day Dinner, hosted by the Oakland County Republican Party, where the party honored him as its “Man of the Decade”. The former president frequently attacked President Joe Biden throughout his speech on Sundaysaying that Biden was a “catastrophe” for Michigan and automobile production in the state. Trump also criticized Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign, for approving state funding for a foreign company.
Donald Trump received a shower of applause after finishing his speech to thank him for the support he received.
It was his first campaign event in Michigan, one of three states, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that reversed their partisan bias in 2016 to put Trump in the White House, and Democrat Biden four years later.
Trump’s popularity in Michigan has suffered since 2016.
“By Trump’s calculations, he needs to win Michigan back to be president. But he’s been very problematic here,” said Dave Trott, a former congressman from the Republican Party. “Trump is very much the reason the Michigan Republican Party is dead.”
