Trump Warns Detroit Voters Whole Country Will 'Be Like Detroit' If Harris Wins

Federal, state, and local leaders in Michigan took issue with former President Donald Trump's latest apparent voter mobilization strategy in the crucial battleground state: insulting its largest city while delivering a campaign speech there on Thursday.

At the Detroit Economic Club, the Republican presidential nominee told business owners that if Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris wins the election, the entire country will "end up being like Detroit."

"The whole country will be like, you want to know the truth? It'll be like Detroit if she's your president. You're gonna have a mess on your hands," he said. "We're not going to let her do that to this country. We're not gonna let it happen."

Trump didn't specify why Detroit residents should recoil at the thought of a country that resembles their city, long recognized as an industrial and cultural center in the Rust Belt. He has previously attacked other large cities, calling Milwaukee "horrible" weeks before the Republican National Convention and saying at Temple University in Philadelphia that the city is "one of the most egregious places anywhere in the world."

The former president has also frequently lambasted Chicago, comparing violence in the nation's third-largest city to that of a war zone.

Critics have accused Trump of singling out cities with large Black and brown communities for his vitriol. More than 77% of Detroit residents are Black.

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), who represents the city in Congress, implored Trump to "keep Detroit and our people out of your mouth."

"Detroit is a city with a booming economy, diverse culture, and some of the best people in America," he said, adding that the heavily Democratic city "will elect Kamala Harris."

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat, also responded to Trump's comment, pointing to the success of the city's major sports teams, growing population, and sinking crime rate.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, also a Democrat, suggested the "grit" of Detroit, which has made a significant rebound since becoming the largest city in U.S. history to declare bankruptcy in 2013, is likely unfamiliar to Trump.

Detroit, she said, is "defined by winners willing to get their hands dirty to build up their city and create their communities—something Donald Trump could never understand."

An Emerson College poll out Thursday showed Trump and Harris tied at 49% in Michigan.