Former U.S. Rep. Dave Trott on Thursday announced that he was working as the co-chair of Michigan Republicans for Harris, a group supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House over former President Donald Trump.
Trott was joined on a Zoom call by former Michigan Republican aide Jim Murray and former GOP strategist Bill Nowling, each of whom derided Trump, his vice presidential nominee in U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, and urged Republican voters in Michigan to eschew Trump in November and vote for Harris.
The event was planned as a rebuttal to Trump’s visit Thursday to Saginaw, the former president’s 11th event in the Great Lakes state since the election cycle ramped up.
“Donald Trump is back in Michigan, once again, spreading hate, peddling conspiracy theories and lying about his record as president. He expects Michiganders to forget that he betrayed our state and our country during his first term, but we know who he is,” Trott said. “Donald Trump spent four years undermining our democracy and gutting Michigan’s economy. He attacked the press, cozied up the dictators and blatantly profited from his public office. He passed a massive tax cut for billionaires and caused a manufacturing recession in our state. After the 2020 election, he did everything he could to overturn the will of the voters. When that didn’t work, he encouraged a mob of his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.”
Trott said that Trump still won’t admit that he lost the race and called out Vance’s refusal to admit that Trump lost in 2020, saying that it furthered what many Democrats and lapsed Republicans call “the big lie.” Trott added that it remains a cornerstone of Trump’s 2024 campaign, and that he remains dangerous as ever to the status of American democracy.
“He promised to be a dictator on day one, he’s called for the termination of our Constitution. Let me repeat, a candidate for president in this country called for the termination of the Constitution,” Trott said. “If you don’t believe me, take a look at Project 2025. Trump and Vance’s playbook is full of a government takeover. Their extreme agenda would consolidate power under Donald Trump and eviscerate our system of checks and balances. It would also send our economy into a tailspin. Project 2025 would send costs through the roof, explode the national debt and give another huge tax cut to the richest people in America.”
Trump and his campaign team have repeatedly said they don’t support Project 2025 and weren’t involved in its drafting.
Trott represented the 11th U.S. House District until 2019, as he did not seek reelection in 2018. He was succeeded by Democrat and current 11th District U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham.
On Thursday, Trott reiterated his disagreements with Democrats on key policy arguments, but it was Trump’s apparent abuse of power while in office – including his disrespect of the Constitution and radical economic plans – that made him see beyond party politics this election.
Trott said he did support Trump in 2016 but did not believe he would win, and if he did, he would act as a seasoned CEO with his reputation as a businessman. Trott said those hopes did not materialize, and a second Trump term would be a disaster for democracy.
“That’s why so many Republicans have turned against him. It’s the reason why a quarter of the Republican primary voters in Michigan chose Nikki Haley. Trump would have to answer to these voters in November, voters like me who reject his choke hold on the party they once believed in,” Trott said. “It’s also why three of us are here today doing everything we can to support Kamala Harris. She’s the only candidate in this race who will protect our democracy and uphold our sacred oath of office and implement a commonsense agenda that will lower costs and grow the middle class.”
Trott added that he believed Harris would “bring home results for our state, because she stands for the values we hold dear here in Michigan, hard work, honesty and leadership.”
Murray, who served as the deputy chief of staff to former Republican House Speaker Rick Johnson and spent 14 years as a legislative aide for Michigan GOP members, said he was once proud to be a Republican. Now, he hardly recognizes the party.
“This party used to stand against tyranny in all forms. Now, their nominee is a wannabe dictator who caves to autocratic leaders across the globe. This party used to be the used to respect the peaceful transfer of power. Now, they are trying to reelect a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election and has spent years attacking democracy and undermining our elections,” Murray said. “This is the cult of Donald Trump. There are so many Republicans across Michigan who are just as repulsed by this as I am. Over 350,000 Michiganders voted against Trump in the Republican primary. Many of them chose to support Nikki Haley, and they sent a message that was loud and clear.”
Murray said that Republicans all over Michigan reject the authoritarian politics of Trump and want their party to do better.
“No matter how many times Trump comes to Michigan, and he has again today, that reality won’t change,” Murray said. “He will still have the answer to the voters who feel betrayed by the damage he has done to the Republican Party, and we will raise our voices come November.”
He added that there has never been a clearer time for the nation to have a unifying leader, and he said on the press call that Harris is that candidate.
“She has decades of experience as a former prosecutor, Attorney General, United States Senator and now Vice President, unlike Donald Trump, she respects the rule of law and has real experience in holding criminals accountable,” Murray said. “Over the last four years, Vice President, Harris has also helped pass comprehensive legislation to improve our infrastructure, investing in American manufacturing, and expand healthcare benefits for veterans. She supported the toughest and fairest border security bill in decades that would have sent more agents down to the southern border and cracked down on drug trafficking, all while making our asylum process more efficient.”
Murray said the border bill would have made real progress until Trump “called his friends in Congress and killed the bill because he would rather campaign on an issue than actually solve one.”
Nowling, a Livingston County resident and professor at Michigan State University, and who has worked for numerous top Republicans over his career, said he became a Republican because he believed in smaller government, and because character mattered most when looking at elected officials.
“When I made the decision to support Vice President Harris, it was an easy decision for me to make, because character matters more so than any other time,” Nowling said. “We could go on forever about the differences between Republicans and Democrats and policies, but the one thing that I am absolutely certain of is that I know when Kamala Harris wakes up in the morning, she is thinking about what she can do for all of the country, all the people in the country, not just the people who are her friends or not just the people who stand to benefit financially from the decisions that her administration could make. All of the people.”
TROTT AGAIN DENIES THAT MICHIGAN NAMED TRUMP MAN OF THE YEAR
Responding to question from reporters at the end of the call, Trott again denied that the state’s Republicans named Trump “Michigan Man of the Year” and gave him an award in the years prior to his first run at president in 2016.
“I don’t understand why he continues to claim that,” Trott said. “All I can say is … he’s a just a liar-in-chief. He’s delusional.”
Trott explained that his former district had him in for a Lincoln Day dinner in 2013 and gave him a framed copy of the Gettysburg Address. Thereafter, Trott said he came up with the line about the award.
“No matter how many times it’s in the press that that didn’t happen, he can’t seem to get it straight,” Trott said. “He’s just fundamentally unfit to be president. That’s the takeaway from that lie. He’s emotionally, intellectually, psychologically and of course, morally unfit to be president.
The panel was also asked about reproductive rights taking another dominant role in the myriad election issues this cycle, even though abortion isn’t technically on the ballot as in 2022.
Trott said Trump’s pride surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade precedent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was evident and him claiming he turned it back to the states will continue to hurt Republicans in every state that it’s on the ballot. It will otherwise hurt Republicans nationally where abortion issues aren’t on the November ballot, much like Michigan.
TRUMP SLAMS ELECTRIC VEHICLE PRODUCTION AGAIN IN SAGINAW
Meanwhile, in Saginaw, Trump said he would terminate “Lying Kamala’s electric vehicle mandate,” which is a reference to President Joe Biden’s administrative rules to make EVs more available and affordable, which some analysts have said would make gas-powered cars more expensive and less available, according to The Hill.
He also said he would stymie efforts as president for Congress to enact Democratic-led green energy plan, which he called “the green new scam,” a reference to the plan’s given name of a “Green New Deal.”
“Comrade Kamala Harris voted for a bill to oppose a 100 percent ban on gas powered cars and trucks. Can you believe it?” Trump said. “Killing an estimated 200,000 US auto jobs, including 40,000 auto jobs in Michigan. It’s a death sentence for the Michigan economy and for the industry.”
Trump said he was not against electric cars, but said he wanted to ensure that automotive production bastions like Michigan keep making gas-powered cars. He said hybrids were the middle ground he could support, but then turned to the concept of hydrogen-powered cars and said those could be dangerous.
“That’s the new hot thing,” Trump said. “No, hydrogen is the hottest thing. Getting too hot. You know what happens when there’s a problem? The car blows up. You’re not even recognizable. It’s like it’s a disaster. … So, I’m going to pass on that particular car.”
Trump added that if and when he is president again, he’ll work to make sure no state is permitted to ban gas-powered cars or trucks.
Several members of Michigan-based Teamsters were also present and sitting directly behind him, touting what labor support his campaign has been able to muster. He told supporters and members of the labor community that it he’s not elected, “you will not be making any more cars in Michigan,” and that all production would be moved to China and other nations.
Touching on the border and illegal migrants, Trump warned his supporters that Harris would “flood every Michigan small town and Midwestern city with illegal migrants from the most dangerous on Earth.”
“Michigan will not be Michigan any longer,” he said. “Would you like to have a couple million migrants living in your wonderful state?”
– By Ben Solis
