Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by L.M. Land
It was Tuesday, September 17 – the date of Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s first visit to Flint since 2016.
The line to get in and see Trump answer questions at a town hall right in Flint extended from the parking lot of the Dort Financial Center down Lapeer Road, to the intersection of Lapeer and Center roads.
Trump supporters were outside with their Trump T-shirts, hats and signs very early in the morning, although Trump was not expected to appear before the crowd until 7 p.m. Some people even came the night before, from hours away, or even from different states.
Approximately 98% of those who came out to the event center Tuesday night were white. Black supporters also lined up early, with some of them helping to sale Trump gear.
Instead of “Black Lives Matter,” T-shirts for sale read “Crack Lives Matter.” One T-shirt style pictured Trump and was modeled after deceased gangster rapper Easy E. and had the words “Easy D.” on it. There were also shirts for sale stating cats are not food.
Some of the approximate 6,000 attendees shared various reasons for supporting Trump
Daniele Clark came from Detroit.
“He doesn’t care what color you are; he doesn’t care what sex you are; he doesn’t care who you are – as long as you’re being a good person and you’re standing up for what’s right,” said Clark.
58% of Trump voters said they viewed the events of Jan. 6, 2021as “mostly an antifa-inspired attack,“ according to a Suffolk University/USA Today poll released in 2021. These individuals felt that only a few Trump supporters were involved. The FBI has refuted the conspiracy theory, saying there is “no indication” that antifa —short for anti-fascists-referring to the decentralized network of far-left militants who are part of an anti-racist political movement and participate in protests and rallies— was involved.
But Clark told the Courier she believed otherwise.
She said of the January 6 United States Capitol attack: “Everyone knows it was Black Lives Matter and Antifa.”
Barry L. Altman, a minister and Republican candidate for the Michigan House of Representatives District 7, told the Courier his main reason for attending the event was to talk to the former president. Altman said he believes bringing Trump back to office is “one of the steps America needs to heal and recover from the last four years of devastation and just plain old outward, wickedness and evil in the current administration.”
Altman added: “Anybody who supports boys cutting their penises off is evil. Anybody who’s for teenaged girls sterilizing themselves is evil.”
Altman said “the abortion numbers are tragic for the Black community.”
Data from 2021 from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed 42% of abortions in the U.S. were performed on Black women. This data is from before June 24, 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Altman, who became a Republican after running for office as an independent previously, called the Democratic party “wicked and evil.”
Lawrence Jasper, CEO of Omega Investments, told the Courier he is building an economic development company.
Jasper added: “Right now I’m fighting the governor – because she took away our rights using the law called Regional Convention Facility Authority that incorporates a combination law using DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) to take away citizens’ jobs and give her ‘complete control’ of all the properties in Detroit and Pontiac downtowns.”
Jasper said he had developed a system through which he would give 10% ownership of the development in those communities to the citizens that were registered voters.
He also said he and his son, who are Hispanic, have been accused of being racists and denied of their rights.
“They’re bringing foreign investment money through this private entity to buy up all the properties and take the jobs from the people in Detroit and Pontiac,” said Jasper.
Trump focused on the Michigan’s auto industry and the economy
Trump said if he didn’t win, there will be “zero” car jobs or manufacturing jobs.
“If I don’t win, you will have no auto industry within two to three years,” stated Trump.
Trump also said that Biden administration’s incentives for automakers to manufacture electric vehicles would devastate the industry. He did point out he was endorsed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who the UAW has accused of trying to intimidate workers.
However, roughly 8,800 auto and parts manufacturing jobs were lost under Trump’s first term, according to data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
At the town hall, Trump’s stated he would increase drilling and gasoline production and put tariffs on companies who import cars into the U.S. In fact, Trump said he would put a 200% tariff on cars imported from Mexico, which he said would make them “unsellable.”
It is worth pointing out the Biden administration has already been pushing for tariffs of 100% on Chinese EVs.
It was pointed out Kamala Harris doesn’t have biological children
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former White House press secretary, who moderated the event in Flint, said having had children is what makes her humble.
“Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble,” Sanders said.
Harris is a stepmother to two children from her husband Doug Emhoff.
Trump said women are smarter than men
Although his opponent is a female, Trump stated that “women are smarter than men”.
Trump talked about what happened after Secret Service agents discovered and fired on a man hiding in the trees with a rifle at his golf course in Florida, and the man fled. It was a woman who saw the man running, followed him to his vehicle and took photos of his license plate.
“Who does that?” Trump asked.
Trump revisited the 2020 election
Trump, who said he believed he was elected president previously because of his stance on protecting the border, revisited claims that he actually won the 2020 election during his visit to Flint.
Trump’s remarks reflected determination
Since the September 10 debate, more than 35 threats of violence have been received in Springfield, Ohio following Trump repeated false claims about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in the city.
Meanwhile, ads that began airing on Friday, September 20 portray Harris as a left-wing radical.
“Kamala supports taxpayer funded sex changes for prisoners,” the ad opens.
“If I didn’t do well in 2020, I wouldn’t even think about doing this, but we did phenomenally well, and bad, bad things happened,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let it happen again…”
