It seems like Donald Trump’s Thursday night rally in Michigan could have gone better. For instance, take this local headline in the Detroit Free Press: "Trump makes wild claims about revitalizing auto industry at Michigan rally." (An alternative headline: “Donald Trump makes false claims about autos at Michigan rally.”)
Trump being Trump, he insisted he had done great things for auto jobs in Michigan, saying “We brought you a lot of car plants, we brought you a lot ... and we’re going to bring you a lot more.” This is false. During Trump’s time in office, there has been one major new assembly facility added in Michigan, while two others have been idled. One of those idled plants is being redone to build electric cars and one is currently making face masks, but pretty clearly “We brought you a lot of car plants” is false. As another measure, in February, before the coronavirus hit, there were 2,400 fewer auto jobs in Michigan than there had been when Trump took office.
Lying about a state’s major industry is not the headline most politicians want from a rally. Here’s another headline that hit right before the rally, from local news station WJRT: "President Trump rejects Michigan’s request for full coronavirus National Guard funding."
The Trump supporters at the rally are not going to care. These are people giving CNN’s Jim Acosta explanations about why they weren't wearing masks like “Because it’s no Covid. It’s a fake pandemic. Created to destroy the United States of America” and “The good Lord takes care of me. If I die, I die! We got to get this country moving. We can’t, what are you going to do wear masks and stay inside for another year? Huh? Where will that get us?”
But while the rallygoers can’t be reached with facts, there are a lot of other people in Michigan who are going to see the local coverage and hear that Trump doesn’t know what’s going on in their state, but is bragging about his imaginary version of it.
And then there’s this:
All in all, this does not sound like the campaign stop that’s going to turn Trump’s flailing campaign around.