Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz laid out Vice President Kamala Harris’s plan to support manufacturing during a campaign event at Macomb Community College on Oct. 11, 2024. | Kyle Davidson
Following former President Donald Trump’s visit with the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made a campaign stop in Macomb County where he slammed Trump for a disparaging remark he made about Detroit while speaking at the Detroit Economic Club the day prior.
“Just yesterday, Donald Trump was in Detroit and he said, ‘Our whole country will end up being like Detroit. You’re going to have a mess on your hands,’” Walz said while speaking to a crowd of around 100 people at Macomb Community College’s Robert E. Turner Advanced Technology Center in Warren.
“That’s not unexpected for him. That’s exactly what he’s going to do, tear down America. But if the guy would have ever spent any time in the Midwest, like all of us know, we know Detroit’s experiencing an American comeback and renaissance. … We know the city’s growing, crime’s down, factories are opening up. But those guys, alls they know about manufacturing is manufacturing bulls–t,” Walz said.
The Harris campaign on Friday afternoon released a TV ad hammering Trump for his Detroit comment.
Macomb County, known for its blue-collar jobs, has been a Trump stronghold, although Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer twice won the Southeast Michigan enclave.
Trump also made a stop at the college two weeks prior for a town hall with U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), where they accused Democrats of contributing to declining manufacturing jobs, as Trump continued to argue that Chinese auto companies are setting up factories in Mexico to avoid paying taxes, despite multiple fact checks noting that there is only one such plant in operation.
Walz bashed Trump’s record on jobs, saying the former president’s leadership led to a 280,000 loss in jobs in Michigan, including 30,000 manufacturing jobs.
He also called Trump’s presidency an “endless string of broken promises,” pointing to Trump’s promise that not one auto plant would close under his administration with Walz noting multiple plants had closed during Trump’s time in office.
Trump has repeatedly accused Democrats of mandating electric vehicles, despite the fact that no such mandate exists. Walz pushed back on Trump’s claims, calling EVs the future of the auto industry and saying his Democratic running mate would ensure EVs are made in the United States in competition with China.
“Some of those plants are going to produce electric vehicles. And I know there’s some folks a little skeptical — look, I’m a car guy — you get a little skeptical about this,” Walz said.
“Here’s my take on so many of these things. It should just be your choice. We need to make those choices affordable and available to people. Nobody’s mandating anything to you. If you want to drive like, I do a — ‘79 International Harvester Scout that is sweet as hell, I’m just telling you that — knock yourself out and drive it,” Walz said.
While Democrats have not imposed any formal mandate on electric vehicles, President Joe Biden introduced a goal for 50% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2035.
Republicans and fossil fuel lobbyists have argued that new vehicle emissions standards finalized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year would effectively ban gas-powered vehicles. However, policy experts told FactCheck.org automakers would have flexibility in how they meet the new standards, including the option to make internal combustion engines more efficient.
“We got to make EVs. We got to make internal combustion. We got to make hybrids, along with the batteries and chips, so the auto industry stays competitive and can keep the jobs right here in Michigan. That’s exactly what the [Biden] administration did by encouraging GM to reinvest in the Lansing Grand River Plant,” Walz said referencing a $500 million grant provided by the U.S. Department of Energy to retool the plant for electric vehicle production.
If elected, Walz said he and Harris would push manufacturing forward, building off investments made through legislation like the bipartisan infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, pitching strategic tax credits for industries essential to economic growth and national security that would reward companies that guarantee workers the right to organize.
Harris would also sign the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act if she were elected, Walz said, expanding the right of unions to collectively bargain in the workplace.
Local union workers, including members of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, United Auto Workers, International Union of Operating Engineers, International Union of Painters & Allied Trades, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, stand on the riser as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to supporters at Macomb Community College on Oct. 11, 2024
Walz also tied Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) to Project 2025, a more-than 900 page document from the conservative Heritage Foundation outlining policies for a prospective conservative presidency. Proposals include eliminating the Department of Education, calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reverse its approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, slashing federal money for research and investment in renewable energy and privatizing the National Weather Service.
“I’ve also, at times, said Donald Trump doesn’t have a plan. Concept of a plan, at times. That wasn’t exactly correct, he does have a plan. It’s called Project 2025,” Walz said, eliciting boos from the crowd.
While both Trump and Vance have sought to distance themselves from the wishlist of policies with, a report from CNN found that at least 140 members of the former Trump administration had contributed to the effort’s “Mandate for leadership” including six former members of Trump’s cabinet.
Both Trump and Vance also have ties to the Heritage Foundation’s president Kevin Roberts. In a copy of the forward Roberts’ upcoming book “Dawn’s Early Light” obtained by the Associated Press, Vance praised Roberts saying “Never before has a figure with Roberts’s depth and stature within the American Right tried to articulate a genuinely new future for conservatism.”
The Washington Post reported that Trump flew with Roberts to a conference in 2022 where Trump spoke on the foundation’s not-yet-released policy proposals, saying, “They’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do.”
“Look, I coached football for a lot of years. If you’re going to take the time to draw up a playbook, you’re damn sure gonna run the plays, and that’s what Project 2025 is. And I’m telling you, this thing is a damn nightmare,” Walz said.
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