Former President Donald Trump pledged Tuesday to “Make America Safe Again" while campaigning in Michigan as the Democrats gathered in Chicago to nominate Kamala Harris for president branded him a career criminal.
As part of a battleground campaign swing designed to counter the Democratic National Convention, Trump stood alongside sheriff’s deputies in the city of Howell and tarred Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as the “ringleader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.
“Kamala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death,” Trump said in one of many generalizations about an America under Harris. “You’ll see levels of crime that you’ve never seen before. ... I will deliver law, order, safety and peace.”
Trump has sought in recent weeks to blunt the enthusiasm that Harris has attracted since President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed her. That has involved both dark predictions about what electing Harris would mean for the country and efforts by Trump's adviser to set up events where Trump can try to draw specific policy contrasts. On Tuesday in Michigan, the subject matter was crime and public safety.
“Our policemen and women have the backs of law-abiding citizens every day,” Trump said, flanked by several local sheriff’s deputies. “When we go back to the White House, you’re going to see support the likes of which you haven’t seen, certainly in four years.”
In excerpts released before his speech, Trump's campaign also said he would call for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers; he did not mention that during his remarks. Trump promised “record investments” in recruiting and retaining law enforcement officers but did not detail how much federal money he proposes for the effort.
The appearance was the latest Trump event billed as focused on a specific issue, following what was planned as an address on the economy in North Carolina and a talk specifically on inflation at his Bedminster resort in New Jersey. But as on those prior occasions, Trump spent considerable time attacking Harris personally and taking shots at Biden, especially after their appearances Monday at the Democratic convention.
“We have a fool as president,” Trump said.
“It's just insane,” Trump said. “You can't walk across the street to get a loaf of bread. You get shot, you get mugged, you get raped, you get whatever it may be. And you've seen it, and I've seen it, and it's time for a change.”
Trump said he will stop the plunder, rape, slaughter and destruction of our American suburbs, our cities and towns when he returns to the White House.
The former president making such claims, surrounded by supportive law enforcement officers, stood in stark contrast to Democrats' convention. Speaker after speaker founds ways Monday night in Chicago to remind Americans that Trump is the first former president ever convicted of felony crimes, has been found civilly liable for sexual assault, and still faces multiple indictments, including for his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Biden.
Trump, who has mocked Harris for how she talks about her biracial heritage, did not reference Howell's past, including the most recent marches. He did say of Democrats' convention display: “They lied about Charlottesville.”