Trump sets rally for key Michigan swing county next week

Former President Donald Trump is slated to make a stop in Saginaw County next week, his third campaign visit in Michigan in the 2024 election year.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is set to deliver remarks at 6 p.m. May 1 at a rally in Freeland, about 14 miles northwest of Saginaw, according to a news release announcing the event Wednesday. Saginaw County is considered a swing county in Michigan and was the site of a September 2020 campaign visit by Trump.

The planned campaign visit takes place at Avflight Saginaw, 8430 Garfield Road, Hangar 4, Trump's campaign said. The former president has made a habit of conducting campaign events at airports.

The former president's return to the Great Lakes State will come nearly a month after his stop in Grand Rapids on April 2. Trump held a press event where he said a spike in crossings at the southern border was "country changing."

He also underscored his past description of illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes as "animals," calling one individual a "monster," referring to Brandon Ortiz-Vite, the man accused in the March 22 slaying of Ruby Garcia, 25, of Grand Rapids.

Ortiz-Vite, a Mexican national, allegedly shot her and dumped her body on the side of U.S.-131, just north of downtown Grand Rapids. He previously was deported when Trump was president, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Michigan, a swing state, is expected to be key focus for Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden, who won the state in 2020 by nearly 3 percentage points, 51%-48%, or 154,000 votes. Trump won Michigan in 2016 by two-tenths of a point or 10,703 votes.

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