Trump shares message of prosperity, manufacturing strength during Michigan event

Michigan has been a critical swing state in the last several presidential elections, and as things currently stand the 2024 cycle is likely to be no different.

Given the significant role the Great Lakes State is poised to play come November, it is no surprise that former President Donald Trump is devoting considerable time to meeting and connecting with its voters, including auto workers in Detroit and its neighboring suburbs, as Breitbart reports.

Hearing their concerns

On Friday, Trump's effort to win the votes of Michigan's blue-collar contingent took him to the town of Warren, long a center of automotive engineering, design, and manufacturing.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined the former president to help moderate a forum in the key Macomb County city, and she shared her insights from the evening with Breitbart News Daily.

According to the lawmaker, Trump listened intently to the concerns and priorities of those in attendance, and their stories of the negative effects the Biden-Harris administration has had on their lives and their livelihoods.

“They wanted to talk”

Describing the scene as “an amazing event in Warren, Michigan,” Blackburn said that the autoworkers who came out to see Trump “really came forward” for him in a notable way.

“We had auto workers. We had Teamsters. We had hardworking men and women. They loved talking about the products they build, whether it was a Bronco or a Chevy truck or supplying parts for some of those vehicles,” she said.

Blackburn continued, “They wanted to talk last night I found that so interesting. They wanted to talk. They wanted to tell their story, and President Trump was there to listen to them and to hear them out.”

She noted that many on hand expressed concerns about the fate of the auto industry in light of factories going to Mexico, increased plant automation, and the current administration's push for electric vehicle adoption.

Blackburn observed, “And as I said in one of my comments last night, what we have is the Democrats who just continue to ignore the auto worker, and they continue to ignore the impact of this push to go easy on China and this push that they're making for more regulation, environmental regulation, and they ignore that, but it is the autoworker that was in that hall with us last night that's paying the price for this.”

Trump surges as Harris falters

Not only did Trump listen intently to the issues raised by autoworkers in Warren, he laid out his vision for the industry to which they have dedicated their careers.

“We want cars built in the USA. It's very simple. We'll be having auto manufacturing at levels we have not seen in 50 years. And we're going to make it competitive so that can come in and thrive,” he told the crowd.

Though autoworkers unions have long been viewed as Democratic Party strongholds, Trump's message of prosperity and of prioritizing manufacturing may be getting through loud and clear to Michiganders.

Axios reported on Sunday that Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) told donors last week that internal polls conducted as part of her current Senate campaign revealed that Kamala Harris is “underwater” in Michigan, news that is sure to delight Trump, Blackburn, and all those in Warren who welcomed the former president's message on Friday.