HOWELL, Mich. (AP) 鈥� Former President pledged Tuesday to 鈥淢ake America Safe Again" while campaigning in Michigan as the Democrats who gathered in Chicago to nominate Kamala Harris branded him a career criminal.
As part of a battleground campaign swing designed to counter the , Trump stood alongside sheriff鈥檚 deputies in the city of Howell and labeled Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general, as the 鈥渞ingleader鈥� of a 鈥淢arxist attack on law enforcement鈥� across the country.
鈥淜amala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death,鈥� Trump said in one of many generalizations about an America under Harris. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l see levels of crime that you鈥檝e never seen before. ... I will deliver law, order, safety and peace.鈥�
Trump has sought in recent weeks to blunt the enthusiasm that Harris has attracted since President Joe Biden and endorsed her. That has involved both dark predictions about what electing Harris would mean for the country and efforts by Trump's advisers to set up events where he can try to draw specific policy contrasts. On Tuesday in Michigan, the subject was crime and public safety.
鈥淥ur policemen and women have the backs of law-abiding citizens every day,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淲hen we go back to the White House, you鈥檙e going to see support the likes of which you haven鈥檛 seen, certainly in four years.鈥�
In excerpts released before his speech, Trump's campaign also said he would call for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers; he did not mention that during his remarks.
A campaign official who was not authorized to speak publicly said after Trump鈥檚 appearance that the former president will make those additional formal policy announcements after the Democratic convention, when the campaign expects they can get more attention.
Trump's event Tuesday was his latest billed as focused on a specific issue. But on , Trump has spent considerable time and taking shots at Biden, and the same was true after their appearances Monday at the Democratic convention.
鈥淚 watched last night in amazement as they tried to pretend everything was great,鈥� Trump said, singling out inflation and the U.S.-Mexico border as topics Democrats glossed over. 鈥淲e have a fool as president,鈥� he said of Biden.
Trump presented a bleak portrait of life in the U.S. and the threat of a Harris presidency, though he was short on specifics and heavy on hyperbole.
鈥淚t's just insane,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淵ou can't walk across the street to get a loaf of bread. You get shot, you get mugged, you get raped, you get whatever it may be. And you've seen it, and I've seen it, and it's time for a change.鈥�
Trump making such claims, surrounded by supportive law enforcement officers, stood in stark contrast to the Democrats' convention. Speaker after speaker found ways Monday night in Chicago to remind Americans that Trump is the first former president ever , has been found , and still faces multiple indictments, including for his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Biden.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas skewered Trump on Monday night as 鈥渁 career criminal, with 34 felonies, two impeachments and one porn star,鈥� a reference to his payments to an adult film actress at issue in his New York conviction for business fraud.
As the crowd roared, Crockett kept going, hailing Harris as a former prosecutor who 鈥渉as a resume鈥� while Trump 鈥渉as a rap sheet.鈥�
The derision reached its peak as Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated in 2016, stood back from the podium and smiled as delegates chanted: 鈥淟ock him up! Lock him up!" 鈥� a turnabout from Trump supporters' chants about Clinton eight years ago despite the former secretary of state having never been charged with any crime.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporter Michelle L. Price contributed from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Isabella Volmert And Bill Barrow, The Associated Press
