Tax cuts, Shawn Fain, Jimmy Carter: What Donald Trump touched on in Saginaw speech
SAGINAW — Former President Donald Trump took his presidential campaign to Saginaw Valley State University on Thursday, promising to cut taxes, end inflation, restore Michigan's auto industry, and ensure world peace.
"This horrific nightmare for American workers ends the day I take the oath of office," said Trump, who has never conceded he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden and has not set out a detailed economic plan beyond cutting taxes and imposing tariffs on imports from other countries. Trump has said that to reduce inflation he will increase drilling to cut energy prices and that other prices will then drop as well.
Trump was making his 11th visit to Michigan this year, and his second to the presidential bellwether county of Saginaw, and his themes were familiar ones.
Tax cuts
Trump promised to end taxes on tips, end taxes on overtime pay, and end taxes on Social Security income.
All three promises brought loud roars of approval from the crowd at the university's Ryder Center for Health and Physical Education.
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"Our seniors were devastated by inflation," said Trump.
Experts have expressed concern that ending taxes on tips could become a tax loophole for those who earn much higher incomes than many in the service industry, with companies redefining corporate bonuses or other forms of income as "tips."
Vice President Kamala Harris has also promised to end income taxes on tips, for hospitality and service workers only.
Seniors whose sole source of income is Social Security are not subject to federal income tax, but those with other sources of income can end up having some of their Social Security taxed.
Crowd size was a thing ... again
Trump’s event was held in a lower-level auditorium at the university’s Ryder Center, which has an indoor track and bleacher seating. The Trump campaign only reserved about half the room.
University officials said it could seat a little over 4,000 people with Thursday’s setup. The seating area was mostly full when Trump began speaking, with some empty seats at the top of the bleachers and at the ends farthest away from him.
“Who ever fills big places like this at three o’clock in the afternoon?” Trump asked.
Though Trump said at a recent event in Walker, Michigan, that “nobody ever leaves" his rallies before they end, the crowd grew noticeably thinner as the 85-minute speech went on.
Watch replay: Former President Donald Trump speaks at Saginaw Valley State University
Trump steps up attacks on UAW President
Trump twice interrupted his speech to criticize Shawn Fain, the UAW president who endorsed Harris for president in July and who has put union money and membership efforts behind boosting her candidacy.
At one point, he said Fain, who led UAW workers to historic contract gains in 2023, "has to be the dumbest union leader."
At another point in the speech, Trump said Fain "sold out the autoworkers" by buying into the Biden-Harris administration's plan to promote electric vehicles at the expense of vehicles that use internal combustion engines and gasoline.
"They got a little gain upfront," but in two years, if Trump is not elected, Michigan will no longer be manufacturing automobiles, because China will be dominant in electric vehicles, Trump predicted.
Fain said in September that Trump is "a scab" who as president would be "a disaster for the working class."
University venue; not a university audience
Though the event was held at a university, students did not make up anywhere near the majority of Thursday’s crowd, and not all the students in attendance were necessarily Trump supporters.
Muhammed Samey was one of several SVSU students who attended the event together, wearing bright red sweatshirts of the university’s swim and dive team that could easily be mistaken for the red MAGA gear worn by many Trump supporters.
“It’s a nice experience; I’ve been waiting for it,” said Samey, who is studying rehabilitation medicine.
But he said he hasn’t been paying too much attention to politics or the election and remains undecided.
“I’m going to see whose speeches are better, and then I’ll decide,” he said.
Most polls show Harris with a double-digit lead over Trump among young voters.
No mention of prosecutor's latest filing
Trump, who often rails at length about his legal difficulties and how he believes the U.S. Department of Justice is being weaponized against him, made no mention Thursday of the latest court filing by special counsel Jack Smith, which contained explosive new details of alleged criminal activity by Trump.
But he did recognize former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat who turned 100 on Tuesday.
"He's so happy, because his administration was considered brilliant, compared to what we have now," Trump said.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 5 takeaways from former President Trump's Saginaw campaign rally