'Dark and depraved': Detroit Free Press editor rips Trump’s 'tired old jokes' on Motor City

11 October 2024

Detroit Free Press deputy editorial page editor Khalil AlHajal on Friday slammed Donald Trump’s “tired old jokes” on Detroit, MI, writing in an op-ed that the former president’s “off-the-cuff jab” at the Motor City “didn’t land” during a speech at a Detroit Economic Club meeting.

Discussing the impacts of a potential Kamala Harris presidency, Trump on Thursday warned warned “our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president.”

“You’re going to have a mess on your hands,” Trump said.

READ MORE: NYT’s Maggie Haberman: Why Trump really criticized Detroit while in Detroit

Writing in the Detroit Free Press, AlHajal noted the crowd “stayed silent for this dire forecast of life under a President Harris.”

“It's clear, by the context of his comments, that he views Detroit as some sort of dystopian hellscape,” AlHajal wrote.

AlHajal then launched into a passionate defense of his city, referencing its “relatively affordable housing,” “world-class museums, restaurants and architecture” and “large swaths of land ready to be developed, farmed or left to nature.”

“[A]ny city would be lucky to bear the slightest resemblance to Detroit, with all its cultural influence, its promise, opportunity and unmatched propensity for neighbors looking after each other,” AlHajal wrote.

READ MORE: 'It was my economy': Obama blasts Trump's 'hazy memory' during Harris rally appearance

The Detroit Free Press editor is hardly the only Michigander defending the Motor City.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) warned Trump to “keep Detroit out of your mouth” in a message to the former president.

“Detroit is growing by the minute as people fall in love with this special place,” Whitmer said in a statement.

“Detroit just hosted the largest NFL Draft in history, the Tigers are back in the playoffs, the Lions are headed to the Super Bowl, crime is down and our population is growing,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan wrote in a tweet. “Lots of cities should be like Detroit. And we did it all without Trump’s help.”

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