HOWELL, M.I. — Supporters of former President Donald Trump showed up in force on Tuesday afternoon outside of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan as the former president gave a speech on law and order at a private event.
At least one thousand Trump supporters descended upon Howell, about 55 miles northeast of Detroit, to line the streets outside the sheriff’s office where Trump was speaking. Many wore shirts and hats featuring the now-famous picture of Trump being rushed off the rally stage in Pennsylvania after he was nearly killed in an assassination attempt.
“I’m here to try to make sure that our folks get as much exposure to the president as possible,” Livingston GOP Chair Rob Rodriguez-Pelizzari told The Daily Wire outside the sheriff’s office. “It’s not an everyday occurrence where we get to talk with or even see the President of the United States. We’re really pumped up about it.”
Rodriguez-Pelizzari said he would love to host a rally for Trump in the county, which backed Trump by wide margins in 2016 and 2020. He said he handed out all of the 1,000 Trump signs he had ready for the day, adding that Republicans need to maximize voter turnout in red counties like Livingston because there are “a lot of voters that aren’t voting.”
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In 2016, Rodriguez-Pelizzari said everyone was “super excited” about the election, saying that turnout in Livingston County was the “linchpin” of Trump’s victory in Michigan. Trump won the county by 31,000 votes and the election by about 11,000.
“We feel like we’re pretty important,” he said. “We feel like we have to do a really good job here. His presidency is depending on it.”
Rodriguez-Pelizzari said that energy dipped in 2020 and 2022, but “we’re back again,” and “everybody is excited” for November. He said Republicans in the area were “very mobilized” and “very responsive.”
A Trump supporter named Scott, who works in casino management and lives in Brighton, was confident that Trump would perform well in Michigan this year. He said that the “silent majority was not going to be silent anymore,” adding that he didn’t trust the polls.
Trump supporters gather in Howell/ Daily Wire.
He said his biggest issues were illegal immigration, high grocery prices, and the economy. He was especially critical of Vice President Kamala Harris’s price control proposals.
Scott was skeptical of Harris’ promises to fix the economy, the border, and inflation since the Biden-Harris administration has already been in office for nearly four years.
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As a Midwest voter, he said that he believes the Democrat’s vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz, is “more liberal than Kamala,” and he’s worried about his “incredibly deep ties to China.”
A group of pro-life Christians was also outside the sheriff’s office, rallying for a woman named Heather Idoni, who has been incarcerated at the Livingston County Jail for her conviction on FACE Act-related charges. Several of those demonstrating held signs saying “Free Heather Idoni.”
Idoni and six other pro-life Christians were convicted in Detroit earlier in the day on Tuesday on FACE Act and conspiracy against rights charges brought by the Biden-Harris administration. Several of those convicted, including Eva Edl, Cal Zastrow, and Eva Zastrow, were present with the “free Heather” signs.
During his speech, Trump said that Harris was weak on crime and that there was a spree of lawlessness sweeping Democrat-run cities.”You can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread,” he said. “You get shot. You get mugged. You get raped. You get whatever it may be.”
Michigan is one of the battleground states that could decide the 2024 election.
