Harris accuses Trump of feeding into fringe hate groups by campaigning where white supremacists rallied

HOWELL, MICHIGAN: Former president Donald Trump has scheduled a campaign rally in a quiet Michigan city to talk about crime during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) next week.

However, Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign team has accused the former president of feeding into a fringe hate group. 

On Tuesday, August 20, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is set to deliver a “crime and safety” speech to about 10,000 people in Howell, the largest city and county seat of Livingston County, in the Great Lake State, where a small white supremacist gathering took place last month, the Daily Mail reported.

Kamala Harris’ campaign to accuse Donald Trump of feeding into a fringe hate group

Following a gathering of roughly a dozen masked white supremacists on July 20 who chanted, "We love Hitler, We love Trump," Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign team decried it as inappropriate.

Alyssa Bradley, Harris' Michigan Communications Director, told The Washington Post, “Trump’s actions have encouraged them, and Michiganders can expect more of the same when he comes to town next week.”

A Trump spokesperson called the accusation from Harris’ team “absurd.” 

Trump National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, “President Trump will travel to Howell to deliver a strong message on law and order, making it clear that crime, violence, and hate of any form will have zero place in our country when he is back in the White House.”

The Harris campaign, meanwhile, thinks that the 78-year-old MAGA strongman's visit is intended to bolster the pro-Hitler crowd who held up 'White Lives Matter' signs last month.

“The racists and white supremacists who marched in Trump's name last month in Howell have all watched him praise Hitler, defend neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, and tell far-right extremists to 'stand back and stand by,'” Bradley asserted.

Leavitt firmly refuted any connections, with the Trump campaign seeking access to the important Detroit media market, considering that Howell is located about 55 miles west of the Motor City.

The Trump campaign also highlighted that the city has a history of demonstrations by the Ku Klux Klan and other groups as recently as 2021, and pointed out that President Joe Biden visited the city in 2021.

She also mentioned that the Biden-Harris campaign has delivered speeches in cities where “racist protests and marches have occurred in the past” as well.

How did residents of Howell react to Donald Trump’s visit next week?

Howell is situated between Detroit and the college town of Lansing and was previously the residence of the Michigan Grand Dragon Robert Miles, where rallies and cross burnings took place until his passing in 1992.

Incidents of hate emerged as recently as three years ago when pro-KKK graffiti appeared on someone's garage door just two months before President Biden's visit, according to the Livingston Daily.

One Howell resident, Kasey Helton, took to social media to express that Trump would not be welcomed and posted a photo of the city's Republican Mayor Bob Ellis behind a sign that reads “Smash Fascism.”

She wrote, “Decades of work from good people trying to heal our community’s ugly past and reputation has been wiped away in a single afternoon thanks to Donald Trump.”

Michigan is considered one of seven crucial swing states that Trump must either retain or turn back to red in order to defeat Kamala Harris.

Trump surprised the world by winning Michigan and breaking the so-called midwestern “blue wall” on his way to victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

However, Joe Biden reclaimed the state by a narrow margin of about 155,000 votes and two percentage points.

Last week, The New York Times released polling data showing that Harris had taken a four-point lead over Trump in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Among likely voters in each state, 50% indicated that they would likely vote for Harris, while 46% favored Trump.

According to the new figures, Harris has erased the lead that Trump was building in the states before Biden withdrew from the race.

The first presidential debate between the two candidates is scheduled to take place in Philadelphia on September 10 and will be moderated by ABC News.

The first vice presidential debate between Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio will occur on October 1 in New York City and will be hosted by CBS.

Internet backs Kamala Harris as she accuses Donald Trump of feeding into fringe hate group

People took to the comments section of the Daily Mail article to lambast Donald Trump amid his plans to visit a Michigan town next week where a tiny gathering of white supremacists came out in support of the former president last month.

One person commented, "Let Trump openly speak to the far right. It will just encourage those many more reasonable republicans who hate the fact he is their candidate to either not vote or even switch to Harris."

Another wrote, "You'll never hear Trump condemning a hate group. He's conveniently silent. Those groups take that as an endorsement. He knows that these kinds of people make up a large portion of his base. If he says anything at all, it's some sort of absurd false equivalency like "there are good people on both sides of the fence." No, Mr. Trump. There's nothing good about them. Nothing good at all."

Another person said, "Trump could put the matter to bed by saying that he doesn't want any racists to vote for him... I don't see that happening though."

One individual claimed, "Trump is his own worst enemy. When you praise Hitler by saying he's smart and did good for the economy, Don't be surprised when these people chant your name along with him. Why can't he control himself, i will never know."

Another person asked, "TRump discussing crimes?? Like assault and battery of women, business fraud and incitement of insurrection??"

One individual asserted, "Harris will win simply because she offers voters something different from the usual old septuagenarians who run the country. However, America is a young country run by old people, and whoever the figurehead is, that won't change."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.