Trump gaining ground in Michigan due in part to blue-collar autoworkers
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Democrat Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is calling his shot.
The city's mayor for the last 10 years declared in a post on X on Thursday that the Detroit Lions will be in the upcoming Super Bowl in a post lauding the city's recent sports success while discrediting the impact that former President Trump had on positive developments for his citizens.
"Detroit just hosted the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are headed to the Super Bowl, crime is down and our population is growing. Lots of cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help," Duggan wrote.
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Detroit (Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket)
Trump was in Detroit on Thursday to deliver remarks to the Detroit Economic Club. There, the former president made comments that came off as critical of the city while warning of the consequences of a Harris presidency.
"The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit," the Republican presidential nominee said. "Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president."
However, Trump also complimented the city when comparing it to China.
"Well, we’re a developing nation too. Just take a look at Detroit. Detroit’s a developing area more than most places in China," he said.
Dugan, a 66-year-old lifelong Michigan resident, has made the Lions a pitch for the city's success after last season's run to the NFC Championship Game and a division title. The franchise broke attendance and ticket sales records last year amid a historic playoff run for a team that only made the playoffs four times in the 20th century.
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during the first round of the NFL Draft, April 25, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
When Detroit hosted the NFL Draft this past spring, Dugan said "this has been special in the way Detroit is being seen around the country," he said, adding that it had been "game-changing for the city" in terms of attracting young people to live in Detroit or businesses to locate there, per the Detroit News. This year's draft in Detroit broke the league's attendance record for a single event with more than 700,000 fans.
The Lions came within a historic collapse of making the Super Bowl last season after taking a 24-7 lead at halftime of the NFC Championship Game.
But now, Duggan has made the bold proclamation that the Lions will get to the Super Bowl this year, which would mark the first in its history. Curiously, he has done this while tying in a line discrediting Trump less than a month before a presidential election in which Michigan will be one of the decisive battleground states.
Trump won Michigan in his 2016 victory, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the state since 1988. But the state swung back to the Democrat side in 2020 when it elected Joe Biden.
However, Trump has polled better in Michigan during the current election cycle than he had in either of his past two bids for the White House. This has much to do with blue-collar and working-class voters, who have historically comprised Detroit's automotive manufacturing industry.
An internal poll conducted by the Teamsters, one of the country’s largest and most influential unions, found that members in Michigan preferred Trump (61.7%) over his Democrat opponent, Vice President Harris (35.2%), while national union leaders declined to make an endorsement in this year’s presidential race despite supporting Biden’s campaign in 2020.
Republicans in Michigan are attempting to capitalize on Harris’ struggles with blue-collar voters in the state, a demographic that has traditionally supported Democrats but has been trending in Trump's direction.
Donald Trump (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
"Michigan's working class isn't fooled by Kamala Harris' word salads and dog and pony shows. Her policies, like the radical Green New Deal, are anti-worker," Team Trump Michigan communications director Victoria LaCivita told Fox News Digital. "Her attack on American energy has made the cost of living unaffordable, and her plan to ban gas-powered cars will decimate the backbone of our economy."
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, prominent Michigan Democrats, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have advised the Harris campaign to increase its focus on the state as the election draws to a close. They have also warned Harris to sharpen her economic messaging as Trump has done well to court the state’s working-class voters.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
