Trump promises to fight crime and criticizes Kamala Harris at rally in Michigan

HOWELL, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump visited Michigan again to canvass for the 2024 election, attending a special conference in Howell at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office.

The former president said he wanted to reduce crime and make America safer, especially along the southern border.

“Close the border and it’s closed, but they don’t want to close the border,” Trump said.

In addition, Trump supports the death penalty for certain crimes. In the past, he has insisted that the death penalty should be imposed on drug dealers in particular, again taking a swipe at Democratic presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump claims it is their fault that so many drug dealers in the US commit crimes and get away with it

“Kamala Harris will bring crime, chaos, destruction and death. If she becomes president of the United States, we will see a level of crime like we have never seen before,” he said.

This is currently a hot week for politicians – especially for the Democrats, who are very busy this week with the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Meanwhile, Trump and several Republicans are making sure to stop in all the swing states, including at Tuesday's press conference here in Michigan.

“We are here today to talk about how to stop the crime wave in Kamala, which has reached unprecedented levels,” Trump said.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers agrees with Trump's views on crime in the country.

He said crime in the United States is rising rapidly and he was happy to be with Trump in Livingston County because his career in law enforcement began there years ago as an intern with the river police.

Like Trump, Rogers spoke about several crimes committed in Michigan by immigrants who crossed the southern border illegally.

In particular, they both referred to the high-profile murder of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia of Grand Rapids.

Garcia was killed in March by her boyfriend Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who had entered the country illegally.

“We want to help the police, they have a very dangerous job,” Trump said.

Trump's second plan to make America safer is to deploy the National Guard for a strong military response. He hopes this will also contain the fentanyl crisis in the US.

“We will dismantle and break the gangs, the brutal criminal networks and the bloodthirsty cartels, and we will put an end to fentanyl,” Trump said.

Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole supports this view.

He spoke about how fentanyl had contaminated his community, saying that after numerous investigations, the deadly drug allegedly came from undocumented immigrants who entered through the southern border.

“When sheriff's officers were called to an unconscious man who would not survive and a mother lost her son, nearly 60 grams of pure fentanyl were seized that night,” said Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole.

Trump has indicated that he wants people of all races and ethnicities to be able to enter the United States. He just wants it to be legal.

“It's a disgrace what has happened to our country, but we will turn it around, win a big victory, and win it fast,” Trump said.

Trump also used Tuesday's press conference to encourage people to vote, especially since he lost Michigan to President Biden in 2020 by less than 3%.

Current polls show that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the race.