Whitmer defends 'this beautiful city' of Detroit after Trump blasts Michigan's urban 'mess'
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer slammed Trump over his comments about Detroit being a "failure" and a "mess" during Tuesday's rally with Barack Obama.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer didn't hold back at a Tuesday rally for Kamala Harris as she rebuked former President Trump's comments from earlier this month, in which he claimed that if the vice president assumes office, "the whole country will be like… Detroit."
Trump's comments are even more poignant considetring Detroit's reputation as one of the most dangerous cities for violent crime in the nation.
"I know you all saw what he said about this beautiful city. He called Detroit a failure and a mess, proving he ain't firing on all cylinders," Whitmer said before Eminem and former President Barack Obama took the stage to court votes for Harris. "He doesn't have a clue what the hell he was talking about. And you know what I think? He ought to keep Detroit out of his mouth."
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Last month, during his speech at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump said: "The whole country will be like – you want to know the truth? It'll be like Detroit."
"Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president," he said. "A mess."
In 2018, Detroit had the highest violent crime rate of 2,007.8 incidents per 100,000 people, according to the data from the FBI’s 2018 Uniform Crime Report, making it the only midsize or large city in the U.S. with such a high number.
That year, the city reported 261 homicides and around 13,500 violent crimes, even though its population is less than 700,000. Meanwhile, local officials claim violent crime is down 8% in 2024, and shootings and carjackings have also decreased.
Detroit still faces big problems, like a high unemployment rate and many residents living below the poverty line.
In 2023, the number of homicides fell to 252, the lowest since 1966, but the city has had a changing population. Detroit had nearly 1.7 million residents in the 1960s, but that number dropped to about 620,376 in 2022.
But the data can be hard to verify since the Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly updated its 2022 crime data to show an increase in violent crimes, despite previous data showing violent crimes had fallen that year, which was touted as a victory for the Biden-Harris administration.
Detroit police are currently investigating a double shooting that killed an 18-year-old early Monday afternoon. And just a day after the rally, two men are in critical condition after being shot Wednesday morning near Detroit's New Center district.
Both candidates are vying to win the battleground state's vote with the election just two weeks away. On Friday, Trump also made a Detroit rally stop, promising to put "Detroit first," "Michigan first," and "America first."
Trump told supporters, "Your beautiful place, your beautiful city" was "decimated as if by a foreign army."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Team Trump Michigan communications director Victoria LaCivita said: "Like many Americans, President Trump remembers when Detroit was lauded as the gold standard for auto manufacturing success and revolutionized the industry. Detroit has suffered from globalist policies championed by Kamala Harris that have shipped manufacturing overseas. Detroit's population has dropped over 60 percent since 1960, maintains the third highest homicide rate in the nation, and a poverty rate for full-time workers three times as high as the rest of Michigan. As President Trump emphasized in his speech, his policies will usher in a new era of economic success and stability for Detroit, helping the city reach its fullest potential."
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