DETROIT — Former President Barack Obama urged voters in Detroit and Michigan to cast their ballots for Democrat Kamala Harris during a raucous rally Tuesday night during which he was introduced by hometown favorite Eminem.

Obama told the Huntington Place crowd that he was in the Motor City to remind them of early voting opportunities to elect Harris and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin.

“Together, Detroit, we have the chance to select a new generation of leadership in America,” Obama said. “Let me tell you, your vote is going to matter. We know this election is going to be tight.”

Obama’s campaign stop in Detroit came as voting is underway in Michigan’s largest city, a longtime Democratic stronghold. As of Tuesday, Detroit voters had returned 59,474 of the 108,649 absentee ballots they have requested from the city clerk’s office, a return rate of nearly 55%, according to the secretary of state's office.

State data show another 4,004 Detroiters had cast ballots at early voting centers across the city since they opened on Saturday, a week before the rest of the state begins nine days of early, in-person voting.

This is the first presidential election in Michigan under a new state law allowing early, in-person voting in addition to casting absentee ballots by mail or drop box. That has caused the Harris and Trump campaigns to appeal to voters to cast ballots before Election Day.

On Tuesday night, Eminem, sporting a khaki Olde English "D" hat, introduced Obama with an exhortation to the crowd to get engaged.

“Going into this election, the spotlight is on us more than ever, and it's important to use your voice," the rapper said to cheers during his brief introduction. "So get out and vote. ... People shouldn’t be afraid to make their opinion known."

Obama took the stage shortly after that, joking about the star power that preceded him: "I was feeling some kind of way following Eminem."

“The good news is Kamala Harris is ready for the job," Obama said. "This is a leader who has been fighting on behalf of people who need a voice. This is somebody who believes in the values of this country.”

In a message tailored to the Motor City, Obama said some people have told him they support Trump because “he seems tough.”

“That is not what real strength is — real strength is about working hard, showing up on the factory floor ... That is real strength and real strength is taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth even when it's inconvenient, and helping people when they need it,” he said.

Obama attacked former President Donald Trump for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic during his presidency and for putting three justices on the U.S. Supreme Court who overturned Roe v. Wade, resulting in abortion bans in more than 20 states.

“If we believe in freedom, such a deeply personal decision should be made by the woman whose body is involved and not a politician,” Obama said of abortion.

Citing Canada’s COVID death rate being 60% less than the U.S., Obama suggested as many as 600,000 American deaths could have been averted had Trump followed a pandemic “playbook” his administration developed in his second term.

"Some of those people might be alive if we had a competent president," Obama said.

In his roughly 40-minute speech, Obama said Trump wants the nation to think it's divided because "he understands that dividing people and making people angry boosts his chance of being elected."

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond Tuesday night to a request for comment.

Thousands of supporters filled the seats around the main stage and bleachers in the back of the room. Standing-room-only areas were full. Many women dressed in pink from head to toe; some men sported Obama or Harris T-shirts.

Heather McBride said she came to the event to see the former president in person and described the moment as "history in the making."

McBride, 51, of Wyandotte, also said she came to celebrate Harris as a candidate with other supporters.

"In this world it's so hard, you can't talk to family and friends because no one wants to talk about politics," McBride said. "When you come to an event like this, you are around people like yourself, and it motivates you."

Ahead of the president's arrival, former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr. took the stage to tell the jubilant crowd he came to represent “athletes for Harris.”

“People of Detroit are resilient, they are passionate, and they are proud, and we know how to get the job done ... and we’re good looking," Johnson said. "I forgot about that. Kamala Harris understands that, too, she has the same grit and spirit.”

“I can’t say the same for the other side,” Johnson said of Trump. “Take it to the ballot box and vote.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in warm-up remarks, told the crowd that Michigan will help put Harris in the White House, and knocked Trump for his recent comments about Detroit during a visit to the city.

“He ought to keep Detroit out of his mouth,” Whitmer said.

“You the people have the real power in this election, your voice is the power. Never forget it,” Whitmer said. “When Detroit shows up, he loses. He is about to find out Detroiters don’t play.”

Earlier Tuesday, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick warned voters ahead of Obama's visit to Detroit that the Chicago Democrat was "not the messiah" and that Obama was pitching a message that no longer resonates with the Black community.

Kilpatrick, who was convicted of 24 felonies and whose sentence was commuted in 2021 by Trump, made the remarks during a Trump campaign call with other Black Detroit area men ahead of Obama's rally for Harris.

"I want the president to understand from me, Kwame Kilpatrick, that people respect what he did in office; they respect him as a man," Kilpatrick said. "He’s a politician, so he has the absolute right to engage in politics. But he’s not the messiah or the father of the community. And to tell Black men just because this is a women, you should be compelled to vote for her, it isolates men and woman in their own households.

"We believe women can have that job, but not this one," Kilpatrick added of Harris.

During a question-and-answer session after Kipatrick's comments, moderators did not ask a question from The Detroit News inquiring whether Kilpatrick was being paid for appearing at the press conference. Later, a spokeswoman said Kilpatrick was not being paid for the press conference.

Harris' campaign and surrogates have been making pleas to male voters and, specifically Black men, to rally more support for the ticket in swing states where the race is expected to be close.

In Michigan earlier this month, former NBA star and Michigan native Magic Johnson appeared ahead of Harris at a Flint rally with a direct appeal to Black men.

"Our Black men, we got to get them out to vote, that's No. 1," Johnson said. "Kamala's opponent promised a lot of things last time to the Black community that he did not deliver on, and we got to make sure we help Black men understand that. So that's why I'm here to make sure I help Black men understand."

_____

©2024 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.