By James Oliphant and Trevor Hunnicutt
NOVI, Michigan (Reuters) – Republican Donald Trump appealed to Muslim voters in Michigan on Saturday as Michelle Obama made an impassioned plea on behalf of Kamala Harris at the Democrat’s own rally in the battleground state.
In Michigan, Harris and Trump are battling for voters that include an Arab American and Muslim population concerned about Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and union workers worried about how electric vehicles could reshape the U.S. auto industry, which is headquartered in Detroit, the state’s largest city.
Speaking at a rally outside Detroit, Trump said he had just met with group of local imams, arguing that he deserved the support of Muslim voters because he would end conflicts and bring peace to the Middle East.
“That’s all they want,” Trump said in the Detroit suburb of Novi, also pledging to auto workers at the rally that he would reverse economic decline in the Detroit area and nationwide.
“I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation,” Trump said.
With some 8.4 million registered voters and 15 electoral college votes of the 270 needed to win, Michigan is one of seven competitive U.S. states that will decide the election. It is part of the “Blue Wall” that is considered Democrats’ best chance of electing Harris, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In the southern Michigan city of Kalamazoo, about 130 miles (210 km) away, Harris drew contrasts between her and Trump on issues such as abortion rights, taxes and healthcare.
But first Obama, the popular wife of former President Barack Obama, fired up the crowd by drawing distinctions between the two candidates on personal character and qualifications, saying there was a double standard in how Trump and Harris were being treated.
“I hope you’ll forgive me that I’m a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn,” the former first lady said, urging any undecided voters to “snap out of whatever fog they’re in.”
Obama also addressed women’s health at length, saying Trump has failed to demonstrate understanding of its complexity and that his vows to rescind the Affordable Care Act passed during her husband’s presidency would affect the “entirety of women’s health, all of it.”
“We as women will become collateral damage to your rage,” she said, later introducing Harris to an animated crowd.
Harris was several minutes into an upbeat address when she was interrupted by a demonstrator who repeatedly yelled, “No more Gaza war.”
After Harris supporters shouted down the interruption, Harris responded, “On the topic of Gaza, we must end that war,” then picked up where she left off.
“We have to understand the opportunity we have before us to turn the page on the fear and the divisiveness that have characterized our politics for a decade because of Donald Trump,” Harris said.
Ahead of the rally, Harris met with women medical providers in Portage, Michigan, where she said the country was in a healthcare crisis following the 2022 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that ended women’s right to abortion nationwide.
POLLS SHOW TIGHT RACE
Harris is leading Trump nationally by a marginal 46% to 43%, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. In Michigan, Harris leads by even less – 47.6% to 47.1%, according to opinion poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
Democratic President Joe Biden, Harris’ boss, won Michigan by 150,000 votes in the 2020 election against Trump, a margin of less than 3%, while Trump won by 11,000 votes in 2016.
Biden on Saturday stumped for Harris in Pennsylvania, another battleground state, speaking in front of union workers and bringing pizza to a handful of union volunteers phone-banking for Harris at the Allegheny county labor council.
Since the 2020 election, Michigan has instituted early in-person voting for the first time and begun permitting jurisdictions with more than 5,000 people to begin processing and tabulating mail ballots eight days before the Nov. 5 Election Day.
So far, 19.5% of registered voters in Michigan, or nearly 1.42 million people, have voted, Michigan’s State Department said on Friday. Only 10,900 were in-person early votes, while the rest were returned absentee ballots.
Michelle Obama is the latest example of the Democrats leaning on star power in the final days of the election cycle.
Musicians Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce have both campaigned with the vice president in recent days.
Trump, who was also traveling to Pennsylvania on Saturday, has brought in figures such as billionaire businessman Elon Musk, retired professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and musician Kid Rock.
Before Biden dropped out of the race in July, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that Michelle Obama led Trump 50% to 39% in a hypothetical matchup. She has said repeatedly she does not intend to run for president.
(Reporting by James Oliphant in Novi, Michigan and by Trevor Hunnicutt in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Additional reporting by Gabriella Borter, Stephanie Kelly, Andrea Shalal, Alexandra Ulmer and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Heather Timmons, Rosalba O’Brien, Andrea Ricci and Alistair Bell)
