Trump headlines Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner

NOVI — The Oakland County Republican Party welcomed former president Donald Trump as its key speaker and recipient of its “Man of the Decade” award at its annual Lincoln Day Dinner on June 25.

The event, taking place at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, was a hectic site of Republican supporters from around the southeast Michigan area gathering to hear the former president speak on his perspective for the country and his views on running again in 2024.

“On Nov. 5, 2024, we are going to stand up to the Marxists, the communists, the fascists and the globalists, and we are going to win,” Trump said as he addressed the crowd. “We’re going to evict crooked Joe Biden from the White House.”

Trump heavily stressed the auto industry and international trade deals as he spoke to the assembled Michiganders.

“They have taken almost 50% of (our) manufacturing ability and brought it into other countries,” said Trump. “I ended the disaster known as NAFTA, the worst trade deal ever made, and replaced it with the best trade deal ever made, the (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). This is creating tens of thousands of jobs in the United States.”

The most common thread in his speech was his criticism of President Joe Biden.

“No one has betrayed Michigan more than crooked Joe Biden. He’s betrayed you because he’s allowing people to take away your job in a way that no one has ever seen before,” said Trump. “For three years, Biden and his radical left allies have waged war on American auto workers in his ridiculous crusade to force everyone into electric cars.”

He went on to criticize the Biden administration’s focus on environmental protection, saying that he hopes to utilize untapped oil resources on American soil and claimed he would be able to end the war in Ukraine “in 24 hours” but failed to specify how he plans to do so.

Trump stated that he wants to institute a new trade policy he called the “Trump Reciprocal Trade Act” wherein any country placing tariffs on American-made products would have equal tariffs placed on their products entering the United States.

Democratic National Committee spokesperson Rhyan Lake released a statement June 25 prior to Trump’s visit to Michigan.

“Donald Trump spent four years making endless promises to Michiganders, but under his watch, auto companies shipped jobs overseas, leaving thousands of hardworking Michiganders jobless. While President Biden and Vice President Harris have delivered an American manufacturing boom, including thousands of new auto jobs in the Great Lakes state and across the country, Trump has only doubled down on his MAGA agenda and has promised to roll back President Biden and Democrats’ policies that have helped bring back hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs,” Lake stated.

Other speakers at the event included U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, of the 9th Congressional District, and U.S. Rep. John James, of the 10th Congressional District, as well as former Michigan gubernatorial candidate Kevin Rinke. The national anthem was performed on guitar by well-known musician and longtime GOP supporter Ted Nugent.

Rinke called the event “ground zero in Michigan for Republicans” while James said the focus of the party at this time needs to be to “rally the troops” and prepare for the 2024 presidential election.

Thousands of other Trump supporters descended on the Suburban Collection Showplace for the chance to hear the former president speak.

“I am here today collecting signatures for the Trump campaign,” said event volunteer Scott Peterson, of Wixom. “I think he’s been the best president of my lifetime, and I did go through Ronald Reagan. I was not an initial Trump supporter when he was initially running. I supported him when he became the nominee, and when he became president, it was like ‘this man is here to help our country’ and I am going to do whatever I can to do that.”

A common theme among the supporters was that they believe Trump will turn the country around from what they consider to be a poor state.

“I think he stopped our downward spiral and got us back to having a little more pride in our country,” Peterson said. “He’s looking after people in our country and trying to be a positive leader in the world.”

“We’re here supporting Trump because he is the only one we believe can turn things around in a short period of time,” added Bob Frazier, of Oakland Township, another Trump supporter. “Things are such a mess with our current government that we probably are going to be in very sad shape by the time we get to the next election. This election is really critical, so we have to put conservatives in place with common sense who know how to take care of our children and take care of our laws and Constitution. He’s the only one who has a very clear vision to do that.”

There was little discussion of the legal charges that have been raised against Trump in recent months, related to his allegedly improper removal and retention of secret government documents following the end of his presidency and allegedly obstructing justice by trying to conceal the impropriety.

“I think (the allegations) are just a political stunt from some of the people who really hate him,” said Kent County GOP member Melinda Balberdy. “I don’t believe that he’s guilty at all. There’s a lot of misconceptions of what is going on in the government.”

“I do not believe that he has done anything wrong,” added fellow Kent County GOP member Denise Hibbard. “He has always been supportive of the American people. He has been honest, truthful, and the other party is jealous that we are better under his leadership.”

Trump himself continued to call the allegations “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”

“Two weeks ago, Joe Biden ordered his top political opponent to be arrested,” he said to the crowd. “That’s me.”