What scares Trump and Harris most in Michigan

When voters in Michigan cast their ballot for president, they say a strong motivator is what they want from their candidate if he is sent to the White House.

But in many elections, voters are also motivated, in whole or in part, by fear of what their candidate’s opponent might do or will do if elected. That may be particularly true this year.

The USA TODAY Network’s Detroit Free Press asked supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who attended a rally at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday to describe their biggest fear when Vice President Kamala Harris arrives on Nov. 5 is chosen. The Free Press also asked Harris supporters who attended a campaign rally in Flint, Michigan, on Friday to say what they feared most about a second Trump presidency.

Here’s what they had to say.

What Trump supporters told us

Chris Monk of Montrose, Michigan, who preloads UPS trucks and is a member of the Teamsters union, saw Trump speak in person in Saginaw for the second time Thursday, after previously attending a Trump “town hall” event in Flint on Sept. 17 had participated.

“Communism — sure,” Monk said when asked what her biggest fear was about a Harris presidency. “It’s not for the people. She’s for herself and her elite force.”

Monk said she believes the economy is “already suffering” and will suffer further if Harris is elected. As vice president for nearly four years, Harris has already had the opportunity to address inflation and take other actions that she promised if elected president but has not done, Monk said.

“I am here to support Trump because I believe he is for the people and that is what we need as the leadership of our country.”

Scott Doyen, a builder from Bay City, Michigan, who drags racing as a hobby, brought to Trump’s Saginaw event his 1967 Chevy II Nova Super Sport, built for racing with a 2,000-horsepower engine. Doyen recently decorated the dragster with the viral image of Trump, covered in blood and with his fist raised, surrounded by Secret Service agents after a gunman shot him at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.

“Open borders” are Doyen’s biggest fear under a Harris presidency, he said. If illegal migrants continue to cross the border in large numbers, “how many of them are gang members and criminals?” he asked.

As a home builder, Doyen believes he faces competition from work done at lower costs using undocumented immigrant labor, and he said he has also heard complaints from customers who have been left with substandard work. “Quality costs money,” he said. “Cheap labor does not equal quality.”

More: Letters: I am the mayor of Flint. I believe Kamala Harris will help our city.

More: “We are the underdogs” in the race against Trump, Harris tells his supporters in Michigan

Harris “simply doesn’t care about the American people,” Doyen said. “If she were elected, it would be the American people who would regret it.”

Frankenmuth, Michigan resident Sarah O’Dea attended the Trump Saginaw event with her husband, Stan, after previously attending a Trump rally in nearby Freeland, Michigan, on May 1 and at Flint City Hall in September had participated.

“The border issue, immigration, food,” O’Dea said when asked about her biggest fear of a Harris presidency.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve used a calculator in the supermarket,” and “it’s obscene,” O’Dea said.

“We love Trump because we want America to go back to the way it was when he was president.”

What Harris supporters told us

Shonda Edgerle, 51, of Lapeer, Michigan, is a team leader at Flint Assembly, where General Motors builds Chevrolet and GMC pickup trucks.

She came to the Harris rally in Flint to show her support. She said she knows many people who, like her, support Harris but are afraid to speak out because they don’t want to be harassed by Trump supporters.

She said she feared that if Trump won, he would attack abortion rights and pursue an extreme agenda.

“I just think it scares me because I’m a huge Handmaid’s Tale fan, but I don’t want to live that life,” she said. “I feel like Project 2025 reflects exactly that for me. I’m scared. I’m really scared.”

LaShawn Lenton, 53, of Flint Township, Michigan, worked as a correctional officer for 13 years and now helps run a senior living community. Your biggest fear of a Trump victory?

“That he would become a dictator and our freedoms would be taken away,” she said. “I have children and grandchildren. I really believe that we should have women’s rights when it comes to them. I am for life. I really am, but I believe that no one should control what a woman can do with her body, especially not the government.”

Eugene Behme, 66, of Flint, is a pipe fitter for Chrysler. He said he came to Friday’s rally because he “wanted a big crowd to upset Trump.”

He joked that if Trump wins again, his biggest fear would be that he would have to move to Canada. Behme said Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021 were beyond disqualifying and he feared what would happen if he got back in.

“He has an army. He has an army of followers. That was obvious on January 6,” Behme said. “There are these people, this cult, who follow his every word. And if he is re-elected, his army will take to the streets again. What power would he have with this military? Michigan Militia, all the militia groups that are out there support him. It’s scary.

James Logie, 27, of Flint, suffers from epilepsy and lives on about $1,000 a month in disability benefits.

Some months his medication costs are $500. He said Harris and President Biden have worked to lower prescription costs for people like him. He said he worried about what would have happened to his care under Trump.

He said he feared that if Trump won, he would implement a detailed policy plan called “Project 2025.”

“I hear a lot about Project 2025 and all the different impacts it can have on everyone as it relates to women and their reproductive rights and the sales tax,” he said. “And I don’t know if there’s anything in there about healthcare, but it’s pretty scary from what I’ve heard about it.”

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected].

Teacher arrested for sexually assaulting underage girl

Harris County shooting: Man killed after allegedly trying to enter his former girlfriend's home with...

Russian attacks on Sumy Oblast injure 10 people

What scares Trump and Harris most in Michigan

What Trump supporters told us

What Harris supporters told us

Related posts:

By Hudson Brooklyn

You Missed

Your browser is not supported

Generation Z is committed to criminal justice reform ahead of the 2024 election

Hunters wear dead herons as hats: Randy Olson’s best photo | photography

7-year-old girl killed in Norwich house fire: reports

What scares Trump and Harris most in Michigan

What Trump supporters told us

What Harris supporters told us

Related posts:

By Hudson Brooklyn

Related Post

Your browser is not supported

Generation Z is committed to criminal justice reform ahead of the 2024 election

Hunters wear dead herons as hats: Randy Olson’s best photo | photography

You Missed

Your browser is not supported

Generation Z is committed to criminal justice reform ahead of the 2024 election

Hunters wear dead herons as hats: Randy Olson’s best photo | photography

7-year-old girl killed in Norwich house fire: reports