DETROIT (WXYZ) — It was a busy day in Detroit on Tuesday for Vice President Kamala Harris as she stopped at two local businesses in the city.
“Detroit vs. Everybody, I'm with that,” Harris said to a crowd while holding a Detroit vs. Everybody T-shirt. "This is a town of people who have grit, who have determination and who have optimism and ambition.”
Harris stopped by Cred Cafe on the east side, which hosted a watch party for a radio town hall that aired from Detroit with Harris and host Charlamagne tha God. After the show, Harris met with voters like retired Detroit Public Community Schools District teacher Justine Travick.
“I like her tenacity, I like her strength and she does not back down from any questions,” Travick said. "She's going to help education and the women's rights — that’s most important.”
Before the town hall, Harris also made a stop at Norwest Gallery of Art, a locally owned business on the Northwest side.
“For her to come to small businesses is just, you know, very sacred, very powerful," the gallery's founder and Director Asia Hamilton said. "I'm grateful for her being here.”
The event at the gallery focused on Black men and entrepreneurs like small business owner Evan Fay.
"It was a fantastic event. She went into a ton of detail talking about her plan,” Fay said. "I do think there are things unique to Black men that need to be talked and discussed. It's not a gimme vote, we’re not just gonna do whatever.”
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“We're not a monolith," small business owner Christian Willliams said. "I've heard a lot of people say they don't feel there's a specific callout in her platform for us, so I think this really was able to show she took the time out to talk to the community, to hear the needs of the community.”
Williams was another small business owner in attendance and says the economy is one of his key issues.
"She talked about her opportunity economy, talked about expanding tax credits for people with children, talked about increasing the small business deduction and also helping first-time, first-generation home buyers,” Williams said.
Prior to the event, the Donald Trump campaign sent statements to 7 News Detroit in response to the Harris event.
“Kamala Harris is making a last-minute attempt to win over Black men after years of failure. For four years, Black men and their communities have suffered under Kamala’s economy and unchecked illegal immigration, while Democrats funneled billions to Ukraine. From day one, President Trump has listened to Black men and delivered real results. President Trump's economic policies offer opportunities to build generational & permanent wealth for Black families. If you’re ready to break the cycle of being used as pawns by the Democratic Party, vote for President Trump—the only candidate who has delivered real results for Black America.”
-Janiyah Thomas, Team Trump Black Media Director
“I don't think the Black community is going to vote for him (Trump). I really don't,” Travick said. "I think they know Kamala is for the people and for the Black people."
With just three weeks until the election, both candidates are increasing their stops to the Detroit area hoping to rally support in a key swing state that remains up for grabs.
“You can definitely feel it when you're here, when you're driving around, that it can go either way,” Fay said of the election. "I was with her. She’s by far who my family would love to see in the White House."
“It's an important state. I'm a little bit nervous, but I'm glad to see she’s been here a lot,” Williams said. “I was set on voting for her, but this really just sealed the deal.”
Both candidates are back in metro Detroit campaigning again on Friday.
With three weeks to go until election day, more than 670,000 Michiganders have already cast their absentee ballot. That's roughly 31% of the more than 2 million absentee ballots requested this election.
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