Donald Trump makes another bid for Michigan at Macomb rally

Riding a wave of momentum that has seen him close in  on Democrat Hillary Clinton's lead in Michigan in recent days, Republican Donald Trump spoke before a ready and raucous Macomb County audience Sunday night, hoping to tap into their enthusiasm — and conservative leanings — to turn a state that could be his key to winning the White House.

Taking the stage at the Freedom Hill Amphitheatre in Sterling Heights more than an hour late amid a multi-state swing, Trump spoke at length about trade, saying Democratic policies "have decimated" the state's signature auto industry; seemingly ignoring that the domestic auto industry is coming off one of its best years ever, but winning wide applause from the large supportive crowd nonetheless because of the number of auto jobs that the state has clearly lost in recent decades.

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There was also no question how important he sees winning Michigan. Many pundits believe it may give Trump his best chance to win a traditionally Democratic state in presidential years, and crack Hillary Clinton's strength in the industrial Rust Belt by tapping into blocs of disaffected white, working-class workers who believe they've been hurt by global trade deals long unpopular in the state — though Democrats, too, including Clinton, have criticized those deals.

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"Unbelievable what's going on," he said, referring to the narrowing of the polls in recent weeks and his improved chances for winning a state that hasn't voted for a Republican presidential nominee since George Bush in 1988. "In two days, we're going to win the great state of Michigan and we're going to win back the White House. ... We will stop the jobs from leaving your state."

Trump, in a 40-minute-long speech, also said he's got a surprise for Clinton and the labor unions backing her, saying: "The unions love me and the non-unions love me, too."

He also spoke obliquely about news that FBI Director James Comey had again said a look through new e-mails linked to Clinton had found nothing criminal, saying the agency could not have looked at the hundreds of thousands of e-mails involved  in the last nine days. Reverting to criticizing Comey after previously praising him for reopening the investigation, Trump said: "Now, she's being protected by a rigged system."

Knowing a good shot when he saw one, Trump brought a group of children on stage from the crowd wearing white T-shirts with letters spelling out T-R-U-M-P. The kids and Trump pumped their fists in the air to huge applause.

"Our politicians are stupid people. They don't know what to do (about jobs)," said Trump, citing statistics of automakers and suppliers cutting jobs and moving positions and resources to other countries, especially Mexico.

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"It used to be that the cars were made in Flint and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico. Now the cars are made in Mexico and you can't drink the water in Flint," said Trump, repeating his plans to crack down on any companies moving jobs to Mexico with higher tariffs on their products — though economists have suggested that such a move could hurt  American competitiveness and push the costs of cars up.

He also said he'd stop immigration practices that allow "radical Islamic" refugees to come into Michigan, where he said they inject "radicalism into your schools and your communities."  While it's true that Michigan took in more refugees from Syria than all but one other state last year, the total — in the neighborhood of 1,300 men, women and children fleeing war — was tiny compared to the population of Michigan, and there have been no reports of those refugees putting pressure on local schools and institutions as Trump implied. There also has been no indication, thus far, that refugees are not thoroughly vetted or present any particular threat to the U.S. after spending potentially years in refugee camps.

Trump's anti-immigrant argument, however, won loud cheers from the audience.

The Sterling Heights rally — combined with other visits across the state by Clinton, Trump and their surrogates — comes at an auspicious moment, with Michigan appearing in play after voting for the Democratic nominee for president in every quadrennial election going back to Bill Clinton in 1992. Four years ago, President Barack Obama won the state by more than 9 percentage points even though the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, grew up in the state as the son of a popular three-term governor, George Romney.

The most recent Free Press poll, done by EPIC-MRA of Lansing last week, showed a 4-percentage-point lead for Clinton, who held a rally in Eastern Market in Detroit on Friday, as Trump's message of building a better manufacturing base through renegotiated trade deals seemed to resonate — even as it took many of its aspects from Democratic talking points through the years. Clinton, too, has promised to look into trade deals if they hurt American competitiveness.

What's really happened in Michigan over the last month, however, is that Republican support — which had been more tentative in past polls — has coalesced around Trump as the election nears. And in Macomb County, Trump's message to disaffected white, working-class voters seemed to be hitting its target, with the most recent Free Press poll showing him leading there 47%-31%.

Combined with her leads in more populous Wayne and Oakland counties, however, Clinton appeared to have a sizable 48%-35% advantage across metro Detroit.

Even with Obama headed to Ann Arbor on Monday and Clinton herself headed to Grand Rapids, Clinton campaign director John Podesta said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he thought  she was on her way to winning the state and the White House on Tuesday.

"If we hold onto Nevada, hold onto Michigan, Hillary Clinton is going to be the next president of the United States," Podesta said. "We feel like we’ve got a lead in Michigan, we want to hold onto it and we think we can do it."

Trump, meanwhile, was engaged in a vast campaign swing — hitting rallies in Iowa and Minnesota earlier Sunday before coming to Sterling Heights, and then flying off to events in western Pennsylvania and northern Virginia later in the day. His campaign suggested he could come back to Michigan again — possibly on Election Day.

Thousands waited in line to get into Sunday's rally — many, no doubt, listening on the radio to the Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings in overtime in Minneapolis, 22-16 —  as a line of cars snaked into Freedom Hill, a covered amphitheatre in Sterling Heights. As a soundtrack boomed songs from the 1970s and  '80s — Boston, the Rolling Stones  — the capacity crowd occasionally burst into chants of "Lock Her Up" and  "Hillary for Prison."

Those sentiments may have missed the news that the  FBI director told congressional leaders on Sunday that after reviewing e-mails found on a computer used by Clinton aide Huma Abedin — who is married to former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner — he saw no reason to change the agency's earlier conclusion that no laws had been broken by Clinton, a former secretary of state for Obama, and her use of a private e-mail server.

Ted Nugent — the Motor City Madman, who now calls Texas home — was on hand to play "The Star-Spangled Banner." During the rendition, the place exploded — with nearly every hand up with a cell phone recording the moment for posterity. After he played, Nugent, a noted arch-conservative who was born in metro Detroit, said, "It's good to see the real Michigan back." He said he cut short time at a deer camp to attend the event.

Nugent then launched into an tirade about Democrats in Michigan — lumping former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, disgraced Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Coleman Young, a black Detroit mayor who died nearly 20 years ago, into the same group — saying it's time Republicans take back the state.

He also said he was packing loaded weapons — and suggested it was OK because he's friends with the Secret Service —  though it may have been hyperbole, which Nugent's been known to employ before, such as when he said in 2012 if Obama won a second term he — Nugent — would be "dead or in jail" within a matter of years.

"I am you," Nugent said.

That news about Comey didn't matter to many of the people at Freedom Hill.

David Rose, 49, an aircraft mechanic who lives in Sterling Heights, said he had settled on Trump as his candidate months ago. He attended the rally with his three sons — Bailey, 17; Nathan, 11; and Ryan, 10. He said he doesn't have any preconceived notions about whether Clinton is guilty of a crime or not — though he is convinced she destroyed evidence and should be held accountable for that — and is backing Trump for other reasons.

"I do not like immigration the way that it's going," he said, explaining his belief that  there is not strict enough vetting for refugees from the Middle East coming into the U.S. Michigan accepted more Syrian refugees that any other state in the nation other than California last year and Clinton — who, like the White House, says vetting is thorough now — wants to increase it to help relieve pressure in the Middle East and address the humanitarian crisis there.

Rose also said the Affordable Care Act is driving up his health care premiums, even though he has insurance not through the exchanges but through his employer. He said his employer gave him and other workers a letter indicating that their insurance carrier was raising their rates because of the strain on the system created by the ACA.

As for Trump's  earlier controversial statements made about treatment of women, Rose said he considered those "brash," but more of something someone would say when "out with his buddies" than something he meant.

Linda Poma, 53, a secretary at a hospital and a Sterling Heights resident, said she had also been supporting Trump all along, but as a Republican, would likely be supporting whomever was the nominee.

"I don't like Democrats," she said, believing they provide too much in "entitlements" to some groups in society. She said  that in order for her to support a Democrat the Republican would be have to be "deplorable," using a word used by Clinton to characterize some Trump supporters earlier in the campaign. Trump, Poma said, has her full-blown support.

Brian Pannebecker, a Ford worker supporting Trump, said he got a chance to meet the Republican nominee recently after an event in Novi and told him the key to winning Michigan was winning Macomb County, home of the so-called Reagan Democrats, conservatives who turned out for the former president and helped deliver the state in 1980 and 1984. Trump, he said, was intrigued.

Pannebecker  contacted state Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township, about using Freedom Hill, a concert venue seating 7,500 that had already been winterized for the season. In a matter of two days, they got the deal finalized for Sunday's rally. Whatever the final number, it looked like more than the capacity was at Freedom Hill, with people stacked around the amphitheater.

"The Reagan Democrats are supporting him (Trump)," Pannebecker said. Even though that was nearly 40 years ago, he noted, "Their sons and daughters are still here."

Contact Todd Spangler:  703-854-8947 or  tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter  @tsspangler.