The City of Flint comes together for the Harris Rally

Kamala Harris talks manufacturing jobs, affordable housing and bodily autonomy in her “fight for the future”

By Mikaila Bluew

FLINT – Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about her presidential campaign just one day after her rival running mate Donald Trump held a rally at Saginaw Valley State University.

On Friday Oct. 4 at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Harris supporters waited in line for hours to listen to statements from VP Kamala Harris and her lineup of guest speakers. 

The crowd at the Harris’ rally was diverse on every front, all coming together to support a campaign that makes them feel like their voices will be heard.

“It is an opportunity to show that we are for the people, of the people; we are the people,” Linda Patrick said. “As you look around and you’ll see that it is diversified by age, diversified by economic status, diversified by nationalities and cultures that are here today; when you look at his (Trump’s) rally you don’t see that.” 

There was an overwhelming sense that people felt unsafe with the prospect of another four years of Trump’s administration. Even former Trump supporters voiced concern over a second Trump presidency.

“I am a die-hard conservative, (I) have been my whole life,” Mike Conklin said. “Just, I knew what Trump was back when he ran in 2016. I worked for people like that, I know what they’re capable of.” 

Conklin voted for Trump in 2016, but says that he “overestimated” the former president. He says that if Trump is elected president in November, it “might be the last election we ever have.”

Before Harris took the stage for her remarks, we heard from notable speakers, including:  Representative Elissa Slotkin, Senator Gary Peters, UAW President Shawn Fain, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan legend Magic Johnson, and Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley. 

During her speech, Harris explained her plan for what she calls an “opportunity economy.”

“One of the things I will do is raise the startup deduction from $5,000 to $50,000 to help entrepreneurs start their small business,” Harris said.

She also brought attention to the housing crisis in America, saying we need to build more homes and lower the cost of living. She talked about her plan to invest in the steel, iron and auto industries, as well as newer manufacturing industries like batteries and electric vehicles.

“Over the last three and a half years, we have brought manufacturing back to America, bringing 730,000 manufacturing jobs,” Harris said. “We announced the opening of more than 20 new auto plants in the United States, and we did it by investing in American industry and American workers.”

Harris used these facts to call out some of the false statements the Trump campaign has made about the loss of manufacturing jobs during his time as president. 

“Under my leadership we created more than half a million manufacturing jobs in less than three years,” Trump said at an Aug. 19 MAGA Rally. “And under Kamala we have fallen into manufacturing recession, with 13,000 manufacturing jobs lost in the United States since just the start of this year.”

She also spoke out about the effects of overturning Roe v. Wade and what her administration plans to do about it.

“And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States I will proudly sign it into law,” Harris exclaimed.

“We are not going back,” the crowd rang out in chants across the rink as Harris began to wrap up her statements.

“We will move forward; ours is a fight for the future,” Harris said proudly. “Ours is a fight for the future, and ours is a fight for freedom.”