DIMONDALE, Mich. _ On his second visit to Michigan in less than two weeks, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Friday blasted Democratic policies he said have destroyed Detroit and other urban centers and called for African-Americans to support him, saying blacks cannot expect change otherwise.
Speaking to an almost all-white audience of about 6,000 people, Trump appealed directly to blacks for votes.
"You live in poverty," he said. "Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. What the hell do you have to lose?"
A Democratic state representative from Detroit said he was not impressed with Trump's broad-brush message.
"Anyone can tell you what the problem is," said state Rep. Wendell Byrd, who represents the 3rd House District. "The one you want to hire is the one who can tell you how to come in and fix the problem."
Trump promised to bring back American jobs, build a wall on the Mexican border, cut taxes and improve education and health care. But he was short on detail on how he would fix the last two areas, other than getting rid of the Common Core federal education guidelines and repealing the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Though Democrats and many former administration officials have said a President Trump would make the world a more dangerous place, Trump promised an almost idyllic America with him in the White House.
"We will love each other. We will have one country. Everyone will work together," he said as he was wrapping up his speech at The Summit, a sports and arena complex in the Dimondale area of Windsor Township in Eaton County, just outside Lansing.
Accusing Clinton of preferring polices that would help refugees instead of blacks who have become "refugees in their own country," Trump promised job creation and a revitalization of manufacturing centers, saying Democrats are all "talk, talk, talk."
"Only a change in leadership will produce a change in outcomes," he thundered before a raucous suburban audience.
Trump also hammered away on a message that Michigan manufacturing is in the dumps, just days after Gov. Rick Snyder _ also a Republican _ noted that unemployment in the state has dropped to its lowest levels since the early 2000s.
"Your business and plants have been ripped out," said Trump, who repeated earlier promises to stop manufacturing from leaving Michigan _ even though auto jobs are up sharply since the depths of the 2007-09 recession. The North American Free Trade Agreement _ signed into law in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton _ is widely blamed for moving auto production to Mexico, though much of that movement south was underway in the years before the trade pact was signed.
Hillary Clinton has also called for a review of NAFTA. Trump said she's not to be believed and again said he would raise a tax _ presumably a tariff _ on car companies that move production to Mexico. He also repeated his charge that Clinton secretly supports a proposed Pacific Rim trade deal _ though Clinton has said she no longer backs it.
Trump said "the Michigan manufacturing sector is a disaster," and no sector has been hurt more by "Hillary Clinton's policies than the auto sector," statements which seemed to ignore that since the rescue of General Motors and Chrysler in 2008-09, auto manufacturing jobs in Michigan have grown from 22,800 to 38,200 and auto parts jobs also have grown, from 73,400 to 162,800.
"Mexico will become the car capital of the world very quickly and Michigan is going to end up with a lot of empty buildings all over the place unless you elect Donald Trump," he said.
The speech _ which lasted just over 40 minutes _ ranged widely, with Trump promising that his tax proposals would help the middle class more than Clinton's and repeating his call for "extreme vetting" of refugees and immigrants to ensure that people being let into the U.S. embrace American values. Many experts have called such a proposal unworkable and, as the Detroit Free Press reported this week, even supporters of it say it would have no effect on keeping potential terrorists out of the country.
Carey Caswell of Dorr in Allegan County, who drove more than 60 miles to see Trump, said the message he heard was a familiar one, but "it's just nice to see him in person."
Caswell said he likes Trump's message about renegotiating trade agreements such as NAFTA, which Trump says have killed jobs. He said Trump is short on specifics in many areas, but he hopes Trump "is going to put really good people in there to get us help."
Roxanne Blaser, who lives in the Dansville area, said she loved the speech and agrees with Trump 100 percent, especially his pledge to take on ISIS and end illegal immigration.
Early in the speech, Trump focused his attention on African-American voters, perhaps aware that analysts have said his chances of election are slim if he can't do better with minorities. He predicted that given a chance to govern, he would win 95 percent of the African-American vote in the future.
Trump said Detroit is the most violent city in America _ a statistic he didn't back up but Detroit does show up at or near the top of lists of major cities in terms of violent crime and murders _ and said he could work changes on the city if elected. A recent EPIC-MRA poll reported by the Free Press last week showed Trump behind Clinton in Michigan by a margin on 85 percent to 2 percent, with 10 percent undecided.
"It's time to hold Democratic politicians accountable for what they have done to these communities," Trump said. "At what point do we say enough?"
"I will produce for the African-Americans," he said. "All the Democrats have done is taken advantage of your vote. ... You have nothing to lose."
Before the event, long lines of cars stretched for miles to get into the rally, and entrepreneurs sold Trump buttons, T-shirts and other novelties to those winding their ways to The Summit arena complex from cars parked blocks away.
Teresa Pierce of Fulton Township, who was holding a sign reading "Border wall construction crew _ ready to work," said she doesn't feel the country is working for her anymore.
"I feel we need a change and maybe Trump will be that change," said Pierce, who retired from GM and now manages apartments.
