Vice President Kamala Harris addresses a crowd in Detroit at a rally for her campaign for president on Aug. 7, 2024. | Anna Liz Nichols
Vice President Kamala Harris began a busy week of events in Michigan with a Tuesday interview with radio personality Charlamagne Tha God in Detroit. Afterward, she appeared at an iHeartRadio watch party at the CRED Café, where she was presented with a “Detroit vs. Everybody” shirt courtesy of company founder Tommey Walker Jr., who’s set to do a Thursday fireside chat for her campaign in the city.
Last week, former President Donald Trump spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, where he declared that if Harris wins on Nov. 5, the “whole country will end up being like Detroit,” which didn’t play well with the crowd or many Michigan leaders.
Harris told the watch party that some of her first friends at Howard University, an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), were from Detroit.
“And I just feel a kindred spirit whenever I come to Detroit,” she said. “… And what I want to say about the slogan, ‘Detroit vs. Everybody,’ about the heart and soul that I know about Detroit: This is a town of people who have grit, who have determination, and who have optimism and ambition and apply to that a lot of hard work, which makes Detroit a first-class city in the United States of America now and always has.”
Before giving the keynote address at the annual Detroit NAACP dinner in May, President Joe Biden also stopped by the CRED Café, which is owned by former NBA players Joseph Crawford and Jordan Crawford. The business received a grant for renovations through Motor City Match under the American Rescue Plan Act.
“People look for the big headlines, so they don’t really realize all the policies that actually help people, like the Motor City Match,” Jordan Crawford said in a May interview with the Michigan Advance. “We were lucky enough to benefit from that, and with him coming here, we get to relay that message.”
Harris talked about the importance of supporting entrepreneurs and pitched her plan for an “opportunity economy.”
“… We are a nation of people who have ambition, who have aspirations, who have dreams. And we need to tap into that, knowing that not everybody necessarily has the opportunity to actually achieve their goals but not for lack of innovation and ideas and hard work and grit. So, a lot of my vision for what we need to do as we move forward as a new generation of leadership for America is about making sure that people have access to opportunity,” she said.
President Joe Biden visits the CRED Cafe in Detroit, Mich., to speak with Black voters on May 19, 2024. CRED Cafe, which is owned by former NBA players Joe Crawford and Jordan Crawford, received a grant for renovations from Motor City Match through the American Rescue Plan Act. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
Harris expressed confidence in winning the Great Lakes State, but stressed that it will take “hard work.”
“Look, we have 21 days until this election. We will win,” Harris said. “… It’s going to be hard work, though. It’s a tight race. But here’s the thing that I know about everybody that’s here: We like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is good work. And there is so much at stake.”
The vice president added that “Detroit is going to help deliver Michigan.”
However, the Michigan GOP issued a statement Wednesday knocking Harris for being wobbly with Black, Muslim, Jewish, union, young male and Latino voters.
“The vibes coming out of Kamala Harris’ Campaign of Joy are not exactly peachy these days. A series of recent articles have outlined how Democrat insiders are concerned that Kamala Camp, despite having $1 billion at their disposal, is failing to build key relationships, deploy surrogates effectively, and turn out voters of color, in the Great Lakes State,” the statement said.
Harris sough to contrast her agenda with Trump’s in her brief remarks.
“There is so much about this election and what is in front of us with this election that really is about two different paths and two different visions,” she said. “And ours really is about the future, and the other side really is about trying to take us backward. … Ours is a campaign that is about fuel from the power of the people and about building community and building coalitions and, in the process, building up our country to maximize our strength and our potential.”
Michigan is in for a bustling few days of presidential campaign activity, with Harris set to hold events in Grand Rapids and Oakland County on Friday and Trump is slated to be back in Detroit for a Friday night rally. Former President Barack Obama is scheduled to be in Detroit on Tuesday.
Harris ended her speech Tuesday evening by thanking the crowd.
“I look forward to seeing you out in all of these beautiful neighborhoods that are Detroit as we do the work of bringing home a victory,” she said.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.