GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — Former presidential candidate and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg said Monday he believes the upcoming presidential election could all come down to Michigan.
Buttigieg, who has thrown his support behind Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, made three stops in the state starting in Grand Rapids at The Mitten Brewing Co.
"All eyes are on Michigan, right now. It is all about Michigan. So, are we going to do what we've got to do and turn out every vote?" Buttigieg asked of a socially-distanced crowd that cheered in reply.
The focus of the event was to launch a local canvass effort and emphasize early voting, but Buttigieg also brought up President Donald Trump's response to the recently foiled alleged terrorist plot to kidnap and potentially kill Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
"We got a president, who is cheering on people involved in a plot to commit violence against a sitting governor a Midwestern state that is not right for anyone in a position of authority and responsibility, let alone the president United States," he said.
Trump responded to the claims from Whitmer that his rhetoric escalated tensions in Michigan and played a role in the kidnapping plot by tweeting “I do not tolerate ANY extreme violence.” Over the weekend, anti-Whitmer chants of "lock her up" broke out at Trump's rally in Muskegon. The president responded by saying "lock 'em all up."
In another Michigan specific nod, Buttigieg made a comment about Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
"We are for the importance of public education and a secretary of education who believes in public education," Buttigieg said in reference to DeVos, a longtime advocate for charter schools.
Buttigieg's speech was preceded by words from democratic candidate for Michigan's 3rd congressional district Hillary Scholten, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss and his husband Chasten, a Michigan native.
"We cannot afford a repeat of four years ago. We cannot," Bliss said.
Bliss also said that 30,000 absentee ballots have already been returned in Grand Rapids, which is double the amount that were tabulated in the 2016 general election.
Scholten, who is seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, L-Cascade Twp., received high praise from Buttigieg, who said she would "bring some common sense to Washington D.C."
I'm proud to be backing somebody who actually has the lived experience of a middle-class mom figuring out how to pay the bills and deal with student loans. Take care of a household, coupled with a legal mind somebody who worked in the Department of Justice and understands what the rule of law is all about," he said. "Isn't that the kind of person who ought to be representing this area?"
Michigan's 3rd district has not been represented by a democrat since the mid-1970s. Scholten, who is running against Peter Meijer, said West Michigan voters are ready for something different.
"We're building something new, a new political home for folks on the right and the left who want to come together and get things done," she said in an interview following Monday's event. "Mayor Pete throughout his campaign really embodied a similar type of energy, and I think it really highlights that he is willing to come out now campaign for someone who used to be his opponent.
It really just speaks volumes of the type and tone and tenor of campaign that Joe Biden is running and the type of campaign that we're running."
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