In his remarks, he falsely claimed, “we achieved the lowest African American unemployment rate and the lowest African American poverty rate ever recorded during my four years.
Unemployment for Black Americans fell below 5% for the first time in April 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a record-low poverty rate, 17.1%, was hit in 2022, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
Detroit has become a focal point for the campaign of Biden, where he, Vice President Kamala Harris and key surrogates have made repeated stops in recent months.
Biden most recently spoke at the Detroit Branch NAACP’s Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner in May.
On Friday, Democrats held a press conference to denounce Trump’s visit, where another pastor, Cindy Rudolph, said that “instead of meaningfully engaging with us, Trump is making a mockery of the church, and he continues to lack the moral clarity necessary for the office of the president.”
“Donald Trump has the nerve to waltz into our city and act like he wants to understand the struggles Black Detroiters face, but the reality is he doesn’t care,” pastor James Perkins, said in a statement from Biden’s campaign.
“Every time Trump opens his mouth to talk to Black folks, he demonizes us, insults us, and makes empty promises he’ll never keep.”
In 2016, Trump earned just 7,700 votes in the city, compared to nearly 235,000 for Democrat Hillary Clinton, while in 2020 he improved to 12,700 as Democrats had just 234,000 for Biden.
After the 2020 election, Trump alleged on social media that the city counted “far more votes than people.” In reality, turnout was less than 50% in both 2016 and 2020.
Trump won Michigan by 10,700 votes in 2016, while he lost it by 154,000 votes in 2020.
Polls show the Michigan race is a dead heat, and Trump would likely benefit from a lower turnout in Democratic bastions like Detroit or Saginaw (whose airport Trump held a rally at last month.)
Marcel Turner, who led Trump’s Black voter outreach in Michigan in 2020, was in the crowd at the church event Saturday.
While having no formal role with the campaign this year, he noted Trump is focusing more on urban centers and believed it would pay dividends for the former president.
Ahead of the event Trump also announced the “Black Americans for Trump” coalition, which contained a long list of endorsees including former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Kilpatrick, who served as mayor from 2002 to 2008, is like Trump a convicted felon. Kilpatrick resigned from office during a sex scandal, and later was sentenced to 28 years in prison on felony charges related to bid rigging accusations.
Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.
“I can never thank President Trump enough for what he’s done for me and my family by giving me freedom,” said Kilpatrick, who did not attend the church event.
“But I believe this election and the issues involved are personal to every family and every person in America.”
Before Trump spoke at the church, the crowd was addressed by Michigan’s only Black member of Congress, Rep. John James, R-Farmington Hills, and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, a Detroit native.
Some of the city’s biggest rappers, including Peezy, Icewear Vezzo and Sada Baby, also attended the event.
“I love Donald Trump,” Peezy said in an interview with Bridge.
“What I’m here for is because I wanted to see some of our community speak for us, because you know, everybody in the black community don’t represent everybody in the black community.”
After the church visit, Trump appeared at a convention in Huntington Place held by conservative activist group Turning Point Action. There he attacked electric vehicles, the United Auto Workers and promised to revitalize the domestic automotive industry without electrification.
