Kamala Harris hits Detroit campaign trail with Charlamagne tha God interview, voter watch party
DETROIT (FOX 2) - The final sprint to Election Day is on with Nov. 5 only three weeks away.
As a result, Michigan - including Metro Detroit - is a prime battleground for visits and unending campaign trail visits - with another one Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Detroit, while former President Donald Trump was out of town, but still found himself talking about the Motor City in unflattering terms.
It was standing room only at CRED Cafe in Detroit where Harris crashed her own watch party.
"It’s going to be hard work though. It’s a tight race, but here’s the thing that I know about everybody who’s here: We like hard work," Harris said.
She stopped in moments after her supporters looked on as she took part in an iHeartRadio town hall with Charlamagne tha God as part of her effort to reach out to the Black community - and Black men in particular.
"We talked about the fact that I think about the economy in a way that is about uplifting people," Harris said. "My plan will strengthen our economy. His will exacerbate inflation."
Harris is spending several days campaigning across Michigan this week, with all eyes on the Wolverine State - where polls are super tight.
Oakland University Political Science Professor Dave Dulio talked about the close race.
"I don’t remember a presidential election where all the battleground states are so close this late in the game," he said.
Meantime in Chicago, Trump was speaking in a Bloomberg News interview - and mentioned Detroit again.
"I’ve been talking about for the last year, about Detroit, and how horribly it has been - it’s just horrible. Because we’ve been talking about Detroit’s coming back for 40 years and it’s never come back," he said.
Trump doubled down on his recent hits against Detroit, following up on his previous comments last week at the Detroit Economic Club, with surrogates later saying Trump was criticizing Detroit’s political leadership - not the residents.
Trump will campaign again in Detroit on Friday at Huntington Place.
"If you are from Detroit, if you are from Southeast Michigan, it’s hard not to take that as a slight, as an insult as a dig," said Dulio.
Trump touted his plan for auto manufacturing which in part aims to make it harder for China, and Mexico to sell their products in the U.S.
"If I run this country, if I’m going to be president of this country, I’m gonna put on a 100% 200% - 2,000% tariff," Trump said. "They’re not going to sell one car into the United States because we’re not gonna destroy our country."
One thing is clear - Michigan is one of the hardest-sought political prizes this election cycle.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a watch party of her iHeart radio conversation with US radio host Charlamagne tha God, at Cred Cafe in Detroit, Michigan on October 15, 2024. (Photo by Geoff Robins /