Kwame Kilpatrick backs Donald Trump at Oakland County Republican Party dinner

Kwame Kilpatrick speaks at Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was a featured speaker at the Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner. He backed Donald Trump for president, spoke about his fall from grace, and how he found God while in jail.

NOVI, Mich. (FOX 2) - Former infamous Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick headlined the Oakland County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner in Novi on Wednesday.

"There are these moments in our lives when we have to say ‘how did I get here?’" Kilpatrick told the crowd.

He opened up about his fall from grace, and his new role as Minister Kilpatrick – saying he found the gospel of Jesus Christ while serving time behind bars.

"It was the first moment in my life that I’ve ever had where I was on the bed of suicide. I had real thoughts of ending it all," Kilpatrick said. "If you ever find yourself, God forbid, on a concrete floor in a solitary confinement cell, there’s some decisions that you have to make from that point if you want to live to see the next day."

Oakland County Republican leaders said they reached out to Kilpatrick after he became a supporter of former President Donald Trump, who granted him clemency in 2021 after he was sentenced to 28 years in prison for corruption.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at the Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner on Wednesday, July 21, 2024.

Kilpatrick served about seven years of his sentence for racketeering, conspiracy, fraud, extortion and tax crimes.

Now Kilpatrick is pitching the Trump-Vance ticket to Black voters who traditionally vote Democratic in big numbers.

He said that it's time to fight against a Democratic Party that he does not recognize anymore – with Vice President Kamala Harris leading that ticket.

"Well, it's like this: My house was on fire. My wife and all my children were in it; we couldn't get out. A firefighter kicked in the front door, he ran upstairs, he dragged me at 300 lbs out the door. He grabbed my wife… and got all my kids out, got us on the front lawn, and the firefighter pulled up his mask, and it was Donald Trump," the former mayor said.

"I want Trump in the room when Vladimir Putin shows up. I want Trump in the room if Xi (Jinping) from China walks into the room. I want Trump in the room when Kim Jong Ung comes to play," Kilpatrick continued.

More: Kwame Kilpatrick describes political consulting work, talks corruption on conservative talk show in Detroit

When Kilpatrick got out of prison, he was ordered to three years of supervised release and must still pay restitution for taking kickbacks while mayor.

He filed a motion asking for an end to that release, but was denied in 2023. At the time, the judge said he only paid $5,000 toward the restitution he owes. She also noted how he tried to raise $800,000 last year to buy a luxury condo in Florida. He owes more than $1.5 million.