The campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris leaned into star power Tuesday night with a rally in Detroit featuring former President Barack Obama and Eminem.
The event leaned heavily into the narrative the Harris campaign has been pushing that Trump is both out of touch with working class people and possibly in cognitive decline.
Obama brought up lies Trump has told about the 2020 election being stolen, and false claims that FEMA funds were diverted away from hurricane relief.
Obama said it’s time to stop giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.
“We act like it’s okay. Or at least those who say they support him, they say well, you know, he’s just joking or it’s not that serious. Or, as long as we win, that’s how politics is played. No, it’s not,” Obama said.
Earlier in the speaking lineup, Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow referenced Trump’s recent comments calling some notable Democrats “the enemy within.”
“What does he mean about that? I assume he means anybody who disagrees with him,” Stabenow said.
In a press release ahead of the visit, the Trump campaign said it’s not worried about the Obama appearance. It suggested Obama himself was out of touch.
Victoria LaCivita is the spokesperson for Trump’s campaign efforts in Michigan.
“You know things aren’t going well for Democrats when they have to fly in Barack Obama from his $12 million Martha’s Vineyard estate and his ‘high eight-figure’ Netflix production deal to campaign for Kamala Harris during the homestretch. And while it’ll probably be a slightly less unhinged affair than what other Kamala surrogates are doing to move the needle, an Obama visit isn’t going to convince Michiganders to vote for another four years of open borders, rising prices, and disaster at home and abroad,” LaCivita said in a statement.
With two weeks left until election day, the presidential race remains tight in Michigan, a key swing state.
Tuesday’s rally in Detroit sought to bring enough excitement to the Harris ticket to break through the noise.
Speakers met the crowd with the popular Detroit greeting, “What up, doe?” Obama came on stage to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself.’ And Detroit Lions legend Calvin Johnson Jr. gave the first speech to a packed room at the Huntington Place convention center.
Eminem said supporters need to volunteer with the campaign and knock on doors.
“There are still a lot of people who have not made up their minds about this election. And they’re not going to be convinced by another ad or another email. They’re going to get out and vote because of people like you and me. So, with that being said, politics is not a spectator sport,” he said.
Early in-person voting is already open in Detroit and will become available statewide on Saturday.
Both Harris and Trump will be back in Michigan later this week to continue rallying voters. That includes competing events on Saturday.
Presidential campaigns spend a lot of time in Michigan.
Whichever candidate gets the most statewide votes wins all of Michigan's 15 coveted electoral votes. Kamala Harris (D) and Donald Trump (R) are nearly tied in most polls of the state's voters.
The map below shows where we know candidates (and some surrogates) have publicly appeared in Michigan since July 15, 2024.
The height of each county on the map represents the number of voters in the 2020 presidential election.
The colors of each county show which party had the lead in votes and how big the lead was. Dark red means Republicans had a big lead and dark blue means the same for Democrats. Counties that look almost white had both parties nearly tied.
Sources: CQ Press Voting and Elections Collection, Geocodio, Candidate visit information from campaign communications and reports from Michigan Public and other news organizations. • Data visualization and analysis by Adam Yahya Rayes and Zoe Clark | Michigan Public. • Visit marker locations are not exact. • Last update: Oct. 22, 2024.
