Actor Hill Harper holds court in Detroit campaign stop in race for Senate seat

Actor Hill Harper fields questions ahead of Senate seat battle with Elissa Slotkin

Harper and Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin will battle to be the Democratic nominee for US Senate - for the seat vacated by retiring Senator Debbie Stabenow.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Actor Hill Harper welcomed A-list talent to Detroit Thursday to boost his status ahead of the August Primary.

Harper is running for US Senate in a hotly contested race, considered one of the most competitive in the country. FOX 2 caught up with Harper to chat ahead of a fundraiser with comedian Dave Chapelle.

Harper and Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin will battle to be the Democratic nominee for US Senate - for the seat vacated by retiring Senator Debbie Stabenow.

Slotkin is considered the favorite to win but politics can be very surprising. Harper fielded a number of questions Thursday and I spoke in depth starting with the war between Israel and Hamas.

"Peace looks like actually demanding the war end - 74 percent of Michigan Democrats support ceasefire," Harper said. "How do we get there. I’m refusing all money from (The Arab American Political Action Committee). We have to make sure special interests, political action committees, aren’t controlling our representatives."

"Do we need to end terrorism? Absolutely. Is Hamas wrong? We can end Hamas without killing innocent civilians. It doesn't mean you have to carpet bombing the entire place."

Hilary Golston, FOX 2 "Has the administration's handling of the war been appropriate? Should they have stopped sending ammunition and arms earlier?

"I think the administration has failed in this area there’s no question," Harper said.

Inflation has been falling, but prices are still high and American consumers feel it.

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: "There’s a tax on the most vulnerable Americans, that is how they see inflation."

"Inflation is a regressive tax," Harper said. "Sixty percent of Michiganders are living paycheck to paycheck. What is even worse is 30 percent of our Michigan seniors are trying to survive off $15,000 a year. Now you buttress that with inflation, people are getting crushed. They’re getting punched in the face.

"It is because there is collusion between big corporate interests and our current representatives and we have to break that. Systemically we have to break that, by electing new candidates to office."

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: "The Biden Administration has a very ambitious goal of having half of all new vehicle sales being electric by 2030. That is a significant investment. Trillions of dollars of taxpayers' money."

"Do you think it’s right that the administration is setting these goals or should corporations figure it out and let consumers decide?"

"The problem is a goal that’s not matched with the infrastructure or the system," Harper said. "There’s a pretty famous quote where they say no one actually rises to the level of their goals, they actually fall to the level of their systems.

"It’s great to have a wonderful goal, to have all these EVs running around, but if there’s no place to charge the vehicles, then it doesn’t work - the system is not in place. So what we have to do, is build the infrastructure first. We have to invest in infrastructure in this country."

The Michigan Primary is August 6. FOX 2 contacted his opponent Elissa Slotkin's office but did not hear back by deadline.