detroit — Democratic President Joe Biden told a crowd in Detroit Sunday night that Republican Donald Trump is seeking “revenge” and will pose a greater threat to the country in his second term than he did in his first. Ta.
Biden made the remarks during a speech at the NAACP Detroit Chapter’s 69th annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner held inside Huntington Place, making it clear that he has set out his policies five months before the November election. He vacillated between promoting and criticizing his Republican opponents.
“Folks, Trump is not running to lead America,” Biden said at one point. “He’s running for revenge. Revenge is not the way to lead a country. You can’t build a future on revenge.”
The Democratic president said President Trump is “unstable” and cannot accept the fact that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Biden said President Trump would pardon people sentenced to prison for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The riot occurred as President Trump’s supporters attempted to overturn the certification of the election.
“What do you think he would have done on January 6th if Black Americans had stormed the Capitol? No, I’m serious. What do you think? I can only imagine,” Biden said. he said, drawing applause from the majority black crowd. Thousands of people.
Biden spent much of the day reaching out to Black voters. On Sunday morning, before leaving for Michigan, he gave his commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta.
Janiya Thomas, the Trump campaign’s black media coordinator, said in a statement that Biden is “going on a pandering tour because he knows what everyone knows: without black votes, there is no Democratic Party.” ” he said.
“Today, Black voters can see through what Joe Biden is trying to sell, because, like all Americans, they want inflation to erode wages, borders in turmoil, and big blue cities. Because we know that Black children are being held in dangerous neighborhoods,’ and schools are failing,” Thomas said.
Attendees react to speeches
Some attendees at the NAACP dinner responded positively to Biden’s speech.
“It was an amazing speech,” said Sidonia Thomas of Roseville. “I couldn’t believe it. I was blown away. I’d never seen the president in person before.”
Detroit resident Cheryl Thomas said she likes what Biden stands for.
“He said in his speech that the first organization he joined was the NAACP, and that speaks volumes about the kind of person he is,” Thomas said.
But Ali Dugger of Dearborn was more critical.
“It was a campaign speech — about what I expected,” Duggar said. “But he never talked about what’s going on in Gaza. He didn’t even mention it, and I was expecting him to talk about it. He said otherwise. It was basically a campaign speech.”
Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched outside the convention center ahead of Biden’s speech, labeling the president “Massacre Joe” and demanding an end to all U.S. aid to Israel. Mr. Biden supports Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but is withholding 3,500 bombs from Israel as it moves forward with its military operation in Rifa, Hamas’ last stronghold.
In remarks at the NAACP dinner, Biden touted his administration’s investments in historically black colleges and universities, efforts to remove lead pipes and the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. .
Biden told the NAACP audience that because of their votes, “I stand here as the president of the United States.”
“A different kind of cat”
Mr. Biden attended a private campaign event Sunday afternoon with about 50 people inside the Credo Café, a bootlegged liquor store opened last year by Detroit brothers Joe and Jordan Crawford, former National Basketball Association players. was also in attendance.
Biden called Trump a “different kind of cat” at a private campaign event, adding that Trump is “not your typical Republican.”
“The people we’re running against want to support all the progress we’ve made,” the Democratic president told the group.
Biden said he would reverse policies put in place by President Trump to protect the environment, but he did not say which policies he was referring to. And the president said President Trump would eliminate efforts to expand health insurance coverage and college access for more African Americans.
Trump promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but was unable to muster the votes to do so during his administration.
Biden defeated Trump in Michigan in 2020, 51% to 48%, and received 240,936 votes in Detroit, helping him defeat the Republican in the state’s largest city by 94% to 5%. did. According to U.S. Census data, approximately 78% of Detroit’s population is Black. Despite no evidence of systematic voter fraud in Detroit, days after the 2020 election, President Trump branded Detroit “totally corrupt” and said there had been illegally dumped votes there. Ta. However, judges, election investigators, and auditors upheld the election results.
Some Democrats are concerned that Detroit voters won’t vote for Biden in the same way in a rematch with Trump this fall, potentially providing a path for Republicans to flip Michigan. .
Will Joe Biden’s second-term hopes rise or fall in Detroit?
In an interview ahead of Biden’s speech at the NAACP dinner in Detroit on Sunday night, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) initially said that “enthusiasm has waned” for a rematch between Biden and Trump. ” he said. But Slotkin, who is running for the U.S. Senate, is sensing a growing excitement in the city, she said.
“The people I talk to are just very wary of Trump,” Slotkin said. “We know what it’s like and we feel like they don’t want to put us back in that situation.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told the dinner audience that Biden worked to save the auto industry’s economy as vice president, was a friend of the city through recovery, and was “with us in our darkest times.” he said.
“Please tell him that Detroit will never forget,” Duggan told the crowd inside Huntington Place.
After the speech, state Rep. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit) said Biden hit “all the important points.”
“Democrats are terrible at sending messages that remind people of the differences between themselves and their opponents, such as being pro-union and anti-union,” Carter said. “If the other side wins, a lot of bad things will happen to the middle class.”
Sunday’s visit marked Biden’s third campaign campaign in Michigan in 2024. Biden met with his supporters in Saginaw County in March and spoke at the United Auto Workers hall in Macomb County in February.
During a campaign stop in Detroit on Sunday afternoon, the sitting president said he told a group of pastors to “pray desperately for me.” He has a “long way to go” in the election, he said.
“But people like you are making us feel really good,” Biden said. “We are working hard.”
cmauger@detroitnews.com
