Nick Treglia | Collegian
Thousands of Michiganders braved rain and near-freezing temperatures to catch a glimpse of President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Capitol Region International Airport in Lansing Tuesday.
“He’s proven himself to be a straight-up American president. He believes in America, religion and all the things that are important to me. I believe he will make America great again,” said Lisa Borden of Garden City, adding that she will be a first-time Trump voter.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden holds a 10-point lead over Trump in Michigan, 52% to 42%, according to a poll of likely voters released on Wednesday and conducted by Mitchell Research and Communications and commissioned by MIRS, a Lansing-based publication.
Many in attendance at the rally said they voted for Trump in 2016 and are planning to do so again on Nov. 3. A considerable number of the attendees were also first-time Trump voters, who either voted for Hillary Clinton, or not at all, four years ago.
President Trump won Michigan by less than 11,000 votes in 2016.
Several attendees said they’d support Trump for keeping his campaign promises as well as his economic policies, even if it meant breaking party lines.
Despite many enthusiastic Trump voters, a small group of protestors gathered outside the rally, waving flags and chanting anti-Trump slogans.
According to Hillsdale College junior Kara Johnson, who was at the rally, those in attendance seemed eager and excited.
“I’ve been to three rallies now in Michigan, and I was really impressed with the crowd size,” Johnson said. “It was a massive crowd, the line was out on the streets. There were thousands and thousands of people there.”
According to Johnson, Trump did a good job of tailoring his speech to Michigan voters.
“His speech was good for Michigan voters,” Johnson said. “John James was there and he’s so good, his speech was incredible, probably the best one I’ve heard from him. And Trump was just really personal, he did his dance at the end to ‘YMCA,’ and he made it personal for Michigan. He focused on the automobile industry and some of his work in the Great Lakes.”
As Trump emerged on the stage, “God Bless the U.S.A” blared through the sound system, and thousands of supporters in red caps cheered for their candidate. Once he had taken the podium and the cheers died down, Trump wasted no time invoking the name of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, to which the crowd responded with a “lock her up” chant.
From that point on, Trump was all business, giving rally goers a comprehensive list of his accomplishments over the last four years. Trump’s speech emphasized his economic record, citing the manufacturing jobs brought back from Mexico, as well as the termination of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the creation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The crowd erupted into raucous applause at the mention of the confirmation of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Amy Coney Barrett.
In addition to celebrating his economic and judicial triumphs, Trump boasted of his successes in the Middle East, promising supporters he would bring more troops home if reelected. He also recognized his son-in-law Jared Kushner for his landmark Arabic peace agreement.
Trump took swipes at Biden in a video clip which detailed Biden’s anti-fracking stance as well as his history of supporting the freezing of Medicare and Social Security funding.
Trump also told supporters he plans to pass “another major tax cut after already having passed the largest tax cut in the history of our country.”
Just before departing, Trump ended the hour-long address with a rallying cry for his supporters.
“We have made America proud again. We have made America safe again, and we will make America great again. Thank you Michigan, go out and vote. Go out and vote.”
