Trump's campaign in Michigan to prioritize “crime in America”

HOWELL, Mich. (WWMT) — Donald Trump vowed in a speech in the swing state of Michigan that if elected, he would make “crime in America” a priority.

As part of a campaign tour targeting the Democratic National Convention, Trump appeared alongside sheriff's deputies in the town of Howell and called Vice President Kamala Harris the “leader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.

He announced plans to curb crime and ensure “better security in America,” especially along the southern border.

“Crime in America is out of control. I'm going to make it my top priority, along with the economy, inflation, strong borders and energy dominance,” Trump said. “I'm including crime in America. Usually that gets done locally. And we're going to give a lot of help to the people on the ground, like I did at the beginning, but not as much.”

Trump spoke about crime and security on Tuesday afternoon.

“Terrorists are pouring into our country completely unchecked and unchecked,” he said. “We have some of the worst terrorists in the world.”

Trump criticized Harris, who was formerly district attorney in San Francisco and attorney general in California, as well as border commissioner under the Biden administration.

“She's vice president. She could do it. She's in charge of the border. She could have closed the border. She should have closed it,” the Republican presidential candidate said.

Republican Senatorial candidate Mike Rogers agreed with Trump's comments at the rally in Michigan.

Rogers also believes that crime in the U.S. is skyrocketing. WWMT was there when Rogers spoke about “migrant crime,” a term Trump uses when talking about the border crisis.

“An illegal immigrant has attacked a minor,” Rogers said. “Two attacks in Oakland County, one of them last month. One raped an 11-year-old girl, an illegal immigrant.”

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

Trump's second goal is to “make America safe again” by deploying the National Guard to achieve a strong military response. He hopes this will also contain the fentanyl crisis in the US.

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

However, the Republican candidate emphasized that he wants to allow people of all races and ethnicities to enter the United States, but in a legal way.

After visits to Waterford, Grand Rapids and Detroit, this is the Republican candidate's fifth visit to the Great Lakes State since February.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Chicago, who nominated Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention, called Trump a career criminal.

As of Tuesday, Harris is slightly ahead of Trump in terms of popularity, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center, which surveyed around 9,201 adults, including 7,569 registered voters.

About 44 percent of voters have a positive opinion of Harris, an increase of 8 percentage points since May, the report said.

Another 42 percent of voters have a positive opinion of Trump, an estimated three percentage points increase over the past three months, the report said.

Editor’s note: The National Desk contributed to this report.