Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Black Americans for Trump roundtable at 180 Church in Detroit, Mich., on June 15, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
As he did in 2016, former President Donald Trump has again won the state of Michigan and its 15 electoral votes, beating out Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
At 12:54 p.m. Wednesday, the Associated Press called the race for Trump in Michigan. With 99% of unofficial returns in, the former president had 49.8% of the vote and Harris took in 48.3%.
The Associated Press already called the presidency for Trump before it rendered a call in the Great Lakes State. Trump has, so far, amassed 292 electoral votes to Harris’ 224.
“We’re going to fix everything about our country and we made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is going to be just that. We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible,” Trump said early Wednesday morning at his campaign victory party in West Palm Beach, Fla.
With the win in Michigan, Trump won all three states in the so-called “Blue Wall” that is Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, just as he did eight years ago when the former president barely edged out Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by less than 11,000 votes out of 4.8 million cast, or just .23%.
This time, however, Trump expanded his vote totals, winning Michigan by about 81,000 votes out of approximately 5.3 million votes cast.
In 2020, President Joe Biden turned the tables on Trump, winning here by an approximately 154,000 vote margin, although Trump never accepted the result and spent the last four years continuing to lie about it.
Clinton was widely criticized in 2016 for failing to campaign hard enough in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states in the Blue Wall.
While Harris avoided that by making numerous visits to Michigan, Trump also spent a lot of time in the Great Lakes State. Trump showed strength in rural areas and cut into Harris’ margin in many suburban areas and cities in order to triumph in Michigan this election.
One closely watched factor was the disenchantment of the state’s large Muslim and Arab communities with the Biden administration’s policy in regard to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Michigan has the highest share of Arab Americans and one of the highest Muslim populations in the nation.
The Abandon Harris movement helped lead the charge. Originally known as Abandon Biden, the organization has actively worked to make sure a Democrat did not win and endorsed Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
However, Stein only won .8%, or about 45,000 votes, which was not a decisive margin in the election this time around.
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