Novi – Former President Donald Trump returned to Michigan on Sunday night, where he told a crowd of Republicans in Oakland County that the push to promote electric vehicles would mean the “decimation” of the auto industry of the state
“It’s going to be at a level that people can’t even imagine,” Trump said during his speech inside the Suburban Collection Showplace, marking a stark contrast to Michigan’s Democratic leaders who have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives to attract car battery factories in recent months.
His criticism of electric vehicles highlighted an hour-long speech at the Oakland County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner. The event included a brief power outage due to the storms, an endorsement of Trump by U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, and the former president’s description of the 2024 election as “the final battle”.
Trump said the “manic push” for electric vehicles would kill auto jobs in the U.S., and joked about the cars’ mileage range, saying they couldn’t travel far and would be a big help for China and trailer companies.
“If somebody wants an electric car, I’m all for it. But you should be able to choose,” Trump told the crowd.
Electric vehicles don’t have to be bought, but state and federal regulators have been laying the groundwork to accommodate more electric cars and trucks in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions and fight climate change. The Detroit Three and other automakers have reduced the number of gasoline vehicles in their lineups and invested billions of dollars to bolster their electric vehicle offerings.
President Joe Biden’s administration has pushed to rapidly increase production of electric vehicles in an attempt to compete with China, which currently dominates the global electric vehicle market.
Trump returned to Michigan on Sunday as criminal investigations loomed over his appearance. Oakland County Republicans presented him with the “Man of the Decade” award and he spoke to a crowd of about 2,500 attendees, according to the Oakland County Republican Party.
The former president took aim at Democrat Biden and his main challenger for the GOP nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump repeated his latest nickname for DeSantis, calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
Trump argued that he fought harder than any president for Michigan during his four-year term.
“Sadly, no one has betrayed Michigan more than crooked Joe Biden,” Trump told the crowd. “He betrayed your state. … He betrayed your state because he allows people to take your job away.”
The event marked Trump’s first visit to Michigan since launching his third campaign for the White House late last year.
Fair for jobs
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has touted the need for Michigan to attract jobs related to electric vehicle manufacturing. The state has secured a number of projects, including a $7 billion investment from General Motors Co. for the production of electric vehicles and batteries at four sites in Michigan. Michigan’s unemployment rate of 3.7% remains low compared to historical patterns.
Whitmer has said switching to electric vehicles will save families money over the life of the vehicle, support tens of thousands of good-paying auto jobs in Michigan, and help “protect clean air and water for future generations.”
But Trump hit back on Sunday, saying the materials for the vehicles come from China and that the supply chain is “a mess.”
The flood of electric vehicles to be rolled out in the coming years will have far fewer parts and assemblies than today’s gas-powered cars and trucks, resulting in fewer jobs.
While conventional drivetrains have as many as 2,000 parts, electric drivetrains can have fewer than 20. The prospect caused enough concern in 2019 that the United Auto Workers union issued a nearly 40-page report on the “implications” of electric vehicles.
The UAW has also called on Biden to push for a “just transition” to electric vehicles with “maximum wages” and has so far refrained from joining other unions in supporting his presidential re-election campaign.
“The federal government is investing billions in the electric vehicle transition, with no compromise and no commitment to workers,” Shawn Fain, the union’s president, wrote in a letter to union employees in recent weeks. “The transition to electric vehicles is at serious risk of becoming a race to the bottom. We want national leadership to get our backs before we make any commitments.”
The race ahead
In 2024, Trump hopes to challenge Biden, the incumbent Democrat. However, a large field of GOP candidates has emerged, including DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Asa Hutchinson.
The Detroit News reported Friday that a majority of Michigan Republican lawmakers have not endorsed Trump’s third bid for the presidency. So far, only three have endorsed Trump, according to an analysis of interviews and ads covering the positions of 61 of the 72 Republican lawmakers in the state Legislature.
Trump won Michigan in 2016, when he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton, by 10,704 votes or about two-tenths of a percentage point. But in 2020, he lost the state to Biden by 154,000 votes or about 3 percentage points.
His most vocal supporters in the state argued Sunday that frustration with Biden and what they see as a leftward shift by Democrats presents a political opportunity for the former president. State Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, said issues like the handling of sexually explicit material in libraries “were affecting Americans.”
Trump is “determined” to win Michigan again in 2024, said Meshawn Maddock, the wife of Matt Maddock and the former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party.
“I think it’s going to be 2016 again,” Meshawn Maddock predicted. “This campaign will be much like it was then. It will be much more grassroots.”
Trump won the Republican nomination seven years ago from a crowded field, ultimately defeating former Democratic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Debate about the bus
A lesser-known GOP candidate for president, Perry Johnson of Michigan, had planned to host a meet-and-greet event outside the Oakland County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner. But he tweeted late Sunday that organizers had “rejected” his campaign bus and were threatening to call the police.
“This is an Oakland GOP event and we sponsored the event to have the bus here. It’s not a Trump event. I’m asking the OCRP and Donald Trump to let this bus in,” Johnson said in a communicated
Johnson’s campaign eventually parked the bus across the street from the Suburban Collection Showplace. At one point, a Novi police officer could be seen knocking on the door of the bus and chatting with someone inside.
Vance Patrick, chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party, said there were significant logistics involved in putting on an event like Sunday’s. Part of the planning was to have a list of authorized vehicles of a certain size or commercial nature, which was finalized last Friday, he said.
“The Perry Johnson campaign never expressed to the relevant stakeholders their intent to bring a large vehicle to the property during today’s event until yesterday, which was after the deadline to finalize our list.” Patrick said.
During Sunday’s event, Patrick endorsed Trump from the stage, telling the crowd to vote for Trump.
“next term”
Oakland County, where Trump spoke Sunday, has become a sticking point for the GOP, which used to consider the region a stronghold. Trump lost the county, Michigan’s second largest, to Biden by 14 percentage points in 2020.
Kristina Karamo, chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, told The News that Sunday’s event showed the political importance of Oakland County.
Karamo said he has been working “side by side” with the Republican National Committee on a two-part plan for Michigan’s upcoming GOP presidential primary, which will award a share of the state’s 55 national convention delegates through elections primaries on February 27, but most of them through 13 congressional district caucuses on March 2.
“Now, they have a chance twice,” Karamo said of the presidential candidates hoping to win some of Michigan’s delegates. “Because what primary voters can do is not necessarily what delegates will do. … I think it puts Michigan in a very unique position.”
Jim Tokarski of Rochester Hills is among Michigan Republicans who expect Trump to win the party’s nomination. Tokarski was volunteering outside the Suburban Collection Showplace Sunday afternoon. His T-shirt read: “Jesus is my savior. Trump is my president.”
Tokarski echoed Trump’s unproven claims that the 2020 election was “stolen.” In Michigan, an investigation by GOP lawmakers, a series of court rulings and dozens of audits have confirmed Biden’s victory.
“I deserve to have his next term in office,” Tokarski said of Trump.
“Man of the Decade”
The Oakland County GOP has said Sunday’s event was sold out and described it as a Trump celebration. Tickets are $250 or more. The county party named Trump “man of the decade” during the meeting.
For years, Trump has claimed that he once received Michigan’s “Man of the Year” award, but fact-checkers have called the claim “dubious.”
Former U.S. Rep. Dave Trott, R-Oakland County, has suggested a possible backstory to the origins of the “Man of the Year” claim dates back to 2013, when Trott hosted the dinner of the Oakland County GOP’s Lincoln Day in Novi and invited Trump to speak. .
Trump addressed a crowd of 2,300 to 2,400 at that event in 2013, speaking for about an hour. Trump said his award Sunday came 10 years after the last honor in Oakland County.
In a statement Sunday, Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes said Trump’s political agenda was “deeply out of touch with the values of Michiganders.”
“Whether attacking abortion rights, undermining our elections, or advocating for policies that hurt the middle class, Trump and his radical agenda have no place in our great state,” Barnes said.
Trump’s appearance came 12 days after he pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges of mishandling classified documents. Separately, in April, he was tried on charges brought by New York prosecutors over allegations centered on hush money payments related to sexual encounters.
Trump criticized the investigations during his remarks.
“They want to take my freedom away because I’m not going to let them take your freedom away,” he told the crowd.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Writer Melissa Nann Burke and the Associated Press contributed.
