DETROIT — A prominent pastor in Detroit has called for other Black faith leaders to support Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying any concerns about the former president's character should not deter them.

"God uses people who we may question their character," said Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of 180 Church at a Trump campaign-sponsored gathering of a few dozen Black voters and faith leaders at a restaurant in Detroit's Greektown neighborhood. "Furthermore, he who has not sinned, let them cast their first stone, right? So we all know that we all have sinned and we've all fallen short of the glory of God."

Sewell said he supports Trump because of the former president's alignment with him on issues such as support for Israel and anti-abortion views.

Black voters were considered instrumental in President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory. A Pew Research Center analysis found 92% of single-race Black, non-Hispanic voters cast a ballot for Biden, and 8% voted for Trump. Michigan is considered a key swing state in this year's election cycle. In 2020, Trump got 5% of the vote in Detroit, Michigan largest city and one that is 78% Black, according to U.S. Census data. Biden got 94% of the city's vote.

"I think Black voters appreciate what's real," said Christina Barr, 35, of Pontiac.

Barr said she believes Vice President Kamala Harris has spent too much time focusing on Project 2025 — a conservative policy road map authored by Trump allies and published by the Heritage Foundation — when attacking Trump, while Trump's campaign has focused on Harris' statements and policy positions, on topics such as gun control and fracking to extract fossil fuels.

"One person is bold enough to tell the truth about somebody, and the other person is depending on a smear campaign," Barr said. "So I think there's a lot of things that could be said about both of them, but just listen to how they attack each other."

Ingham County Commission candidate Clinton Tarver, 74, said he and his wife have known Trump for several years and doesn't believe the former president is prejudiced because he has always treated Tarver well. He also referenced an appeal Trump made to Black voters at a 2016 campaign rally in Michigan by asking them, "What do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump?" At the time, Trump argued no group had been more harmed than Black American voters by then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's policies.

"You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58% of your youth is unemployed," Trump said of Black voters.

"He wanted to let Black people know, 'What do you get to lose by voting for me? We can change this thing around.' And he did, and so, and that resonated with me," Tarver said. "We had more jobs, more money in our pockets, everything was just smooth to me. We didn't have any wars. He was the guy that stood up."

When Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers was asked by a reporter whether false claims made by Trump and his vice presidential running mate, JD Vance, about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio eating pets hurts his own efforts to reach Black voters, Rogers said "campaigns are full of really bad things that people say on both sides of the aisle."

Rogers said he believes Black voters are more concerned with issues in their everyday lives such as the cost of living and criminal justice reform, rather than campaign rhetoric.

"I'm not listening to every rally that goes on around the country. And you know what? They're not either. When you can't pay your grocery bill at the end of the end of the month, you know what you worry about? Your grocery bill. And what we're talking about is how we're going to make a grocery bill less. We want to make life more affordable," Rogers said. "That's what I'm worried about. Small bits and parcels of these campaigns, I think, is so unfruitful to these people's lives and the problems that they have."

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