Trump stokes fear of foreign competition at Michigan town hall

After giving remarks in West Michigan earlier in the day, former President Donald Trump made another campaign stop in Warren Friday night for a town hall led by Tennessee Senator and fellow Republican Marsha Blackburn.

As thousands of people packed into the Sports and Expo Center at Macomb Community College, Trump’s appearance was delayed by more than an hour. When Blackburn took the stage to share opening remarks, various audience members shouted “Trump” and chanted “We want Trump” at multiple points throughout her speech.

Blackburn opened by noting Warren’s status as a manufacturing hub, before accusing Democrats of contributing to declining manufacturing jobs.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump wave signs at town hall in Warren, Mich. on Sept. 27, 2024. | Kyle Davidson

“You know these great manufacturing jobs, the Democrats just don’t seem to understand — or maybe they don’t care — that we’re losing a lot of these jobs. And they like to say, ‘Well, it’s automation,’ or, ‘Well, we’ve changed how we do business,’ or ‘it’s global competition with China.’ And a lot of times it is bad policies and environmental regulation that the Democrats push forward, and what they don’t get is you are paying the price with your jobs and with your wages,” Blackburn said.

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) criticized Democrats’ policies toward the automotive sector at a Sept. 27, 2024 town hall in Warren, Mich. in support of former President Donald Trump’s election campaign. | Kyle Davidson

Upon taking the stage Trump took a handful of questions from autoworkers, centered around undocumented immigration, inflation and protecting American auto jobs.

Trump reiterated his plan to shut down the U.S. border before continuing to push false claims that undocumented immigrants had taken all of the jobs created under President Joe Biden’s administration, and that Chinese companies are building factories in China to outcompete American automakers.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of U.S.-born workers increased 3.5% between May of 2021 and May 2023.

While Trump has repeatedly claimed Chinese auto factories are setting up shop in Mexico to import vehicles to the U.S. without paying, multiple fact checks found only one Chinese-owned plant is operating in Mexico, though several Chinese auto companies have expressed interest in opening manufacturing plants in Mexico.

“We’re losing our companies that make our cars, make the autos. A lot of them are going to Mexico now, and it’s Mexico through China, because China owns the factories. They’re building big factories. They wouldn’t have done it with me. They’re building big factories, the biggest in Mexico, and they think they’re going to make the cars and sell them in and close up Detroit, close up everything in this area, close up South Carolina,” Trump said.

“It’s not going to happen, because we’re going to put very heavy tariffs on those cars coming across the border,” he said.

In addition to repeating claims about the auto industry, Trump continued to falsely assert that he had received more votes than any sitting President, denying his loss in the 2020 election.

President Joe Biden received 81.2 million votes in the 2020 election compared to Trump’s 74.2 million votes. In the 2016 election against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes, but secured 306 votes in the electoral college to Clinton’s 232 electoral votes.

“We got more votes than any sitting president has ever gotten, by far, and they say we lost the election, so let’s leave it at the — You know what? We have one coming up in 39 days, so that’ll be a wonderful replacement,” Trump said.

When asked how he would address inflation, Trump said he would start by addressing energy costs by increasing oil and natural gas production, repeating a previous campaign promise of bringing energy bills down 50% within the first year if reelected.

“We’re going to drill, baby drill. Energy is coming way down. Energy. Energy is coming way down. And when energy comes down, everything else follows,” Trump said.

Alongside energy, Trump said he would bring down interest rates, but did not specify how, saying “So we’re going to bring it down with energy and interest rates. The interest rates are going to come down.”

Trump also continued his attacks on electric vehicles, falsely stating that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had mandated all electric cars before pledging to terminate the non-existent mandate on day one if elected.

While the Biden-Harris administration has not issued a ban on gas-powered vehicles, it has set a goal for 50% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030.

Trump also continued to lambast United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, whose union endorsed Harris in July.

“[Fain] sold you out because he let Biden, who doesn’t know what he’s doing, I mean, you probably noticed. He let this guy come up with an all electric mandate. Those cars are all going to be built in China. We want cars built in the U.S.A. It’s very simple,” Trump said.

However, Fain hosted a press call earlier in the day responding to Trump’s repeated attacks on his leadership, including claims Fain had done nothing to preserve auto jobs as the industry shifts to producing electric vehicles.

“We went to work with the Biden administration, with Kamala Harris and the team. And when I took over as president, we weren’t in a good place with EV battery work and all that type of stuff with the transition,” Fain said.

“One thing we started talking about right away is this has to be a just transition. And, you know, throughout our bargaining process with the big three, we had a lot of dialogue, a lot of conversation, and the Biden-Harris administration was step by step with us and the companies, making sure we found solutions so we can keep those jobs here,” Fain said.

The union was also able to secure commitments from the Detroit Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — to bring thousands of electric vehicle and battery plant jobs under the union’s national agreements during contract negotiations in 2023.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) also went on the offensive ahead of Trump’s visit, putting up billboards in the communities where he was set to campaign criticizing his administration’s impact on the auto industry.

“Donald Trump broke his promises to Michigan’s working families. On his watch, a Warren car plant closed and the auto industry bled thousands of jobs,” DNC Spokesperson Stephanie Justice said in a statement.

“Michigan voters have had enough. They will reject Trump and his economic agenda that left them in the dust once already and instead send Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz to the White House so that they can continue fighting for Michigan families and invest in Michigan manufacturing,” Justice said.

In addition to taking aim against Fain, Trump also criticized Harris for her proposed tax policies, and accusing her of flip-flopping on issues like fracking and support for the police.

While Harris previously said she would support a ban on fracking during her 2019 presidential campaign, she has since stated she would not ban fracking in the United States. Additionally Harris voiced support for the movement to defund the police in 2020 saying it “rightly” criticized the amount of funding allocated to police departments instead of community services, CNN reported. She later denounced the movement after joining Biden’s presidential campaign.

Trump and Blackburn also called on attendees to elect former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake) to the U.S. Senate and to re-elect U.S. Reps. Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.) and John James (R-Shelby Twp.) in order to support Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with large portions of the act set to expire in 2025.

Rogers, McClain and James were each in attendance at the town hall.

Advance Senior Reporter Jon King contributed to this story.

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