POTTERVILLE, MI — Former President Donald Trump said voters won’t be choosing between a Democrat or a Republican for president this fall.
“This election is not a choice between Democrats and Republicans,” Trump said Thursday, Aug. 29. “It’s a choice between communism and freedom. That’s what it’s about.”
Trump spoke for a little over an hour at metal processing factory Alro Steel in Potterville, a small city of several thousand southwest of Lansing. He labeled his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, often in the speech as “comrade Kamala,” and called her not just a Marxist but a fascist.
Several hundred people attended the event. A number of people in the crowd held signs reading “DRILL BABY DRILL!” Workers in high visibility vests and hard hats stood in bleachers to Trump’s left and right.
Trump labeled himself the “American energy president,” saying he would declare a national emergency to dramatically increase energy production.
According to Trump, that entails new drilling, new pipelines, power plants, new reactors and more. It would result in America being not just energy independent and abundant but “energy dominant,” he said.
Trump criticized Harris for favoring renewable energy over fossil fuels.
“Over the past four years Kamala and crooked Joe Biden have presided over an economic reign of terror committing one financial atrocity after another,” Trump said.
Trump announced during his speech that, under his administration, either the government would wholly subsidize in vitro fertilization treatments or insurance companies would be mandated to pay the full cost of the treatment.
“Because we want more babies – to put it nicely,” he said. “And for this same reason, we will also allow new parents to deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes.”
The Potterville stop was Trump’s eighth visit to Michigan this year. He was last in the state on Monday, when gave a speech in Detroit to the National Guard Association of the United States.
Like in that Detroit visit, Trump on Thursday told the crowd the world is close to World War III and that he would help thwart it.
Related: Kamala Harris will ‘never, ever, ever have your back,’ Trump tells National Guard in Detroit
Harris’ husband, second gentlemen Doug Emhoff, was also in Michigan on Thursday. He gave remarks to a crowd in Grand Rapids.
Related: Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff tells Michigan voters not to be distracted by ‘name calling’
Both Trump and Harris are looking to secure Michigan, a key swing state, this November. Polls predict it will be a close race.
Trump narrowly won the state in 2016, making him the first Republican since 1988 to do so. He lost Michigan to President Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump hit Harris and Biden often throughout his speech over inflation.
In a recent report comparing the Biden and Trump economies, Forbes reported that inflation rose 19% over the first 3.5 years of Biden’s term compared to the 6% rise over the first 3.5 years of Trump’s term.
But inflation under Biden, in part blamed on the pandemic, has been easing.
Between July 2023 and July 2024, inflation rose 2.9%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s the first time since March 2021 that the 12-month increase was below 3%.
Trump said that through tax cuts and regulation cuts he “built the greatest economy in the history of the world” during his first term.
In a press call Wednesday morning, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said another Trump presidency means higher inflation and higher taxes for Michiganders.
“When he came into office, Donald Trump shipped Michigan jobs overseas, including thousands of auto jobs… and now he’s got a plan that would supercharge inflation and raise taxes on Michigan families by $3,900 a year,” said Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic governor who also co-chairs Harris’ national campaign.
Trump said he would bring auto jobs back to the state from places like Mexico, making Michigan the “greatest state in the world for automaking.”
“My vision is for a middle class that will be the envy of the entire world. It’s gonna happen and it’s gonna happen fast,” Trump said.
The former president criticized electric vehicles but also said people have a right to choose and shouldn’t be forced to buy one.
“I’m all for electric cars but not all of them,” Trump said.
Some Michigan Republicans who spoke before Trump accused Harris of having an electric vehicle “mandate.” The Biden administration does have a goal of having 50% of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.
Trump will visit Wisconsin later Thursday for a town hall moderated by former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Also Thursday evening, a sitdown interview with Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will be broadcast on CNN. It’s the first major television interview of their presidential campaign.
Harris has been criticized, including by Trump on Thursday, for not having held a press conference or major news interview since Biden announced July 21 he was endorsing Harris to replace him in the race this fall.
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