NOVI, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump's campaign urged his supporters, during a Saturday afternoon rally in Oakland County, to cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, but the Republican nominee personally labeled lengthy early voting windows a "ridiculous system."

"You know what the ridiculous system is?" Trump asked the crowd, at one point. "You have the rest of your life to vote. Anytime you want.”

Trump's speech inside the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi came as a nine-day period of early, in-person voting ahead of the Nov. 5 election opened across the state of Michigan. Large screens inside the convention hall encouraged attendees to "swamp the vote" and to "pledge to vote early, in-person today."

While Trump said people should go vote, he also criticized how long it takes election officials to determine results and what he sees as substandard voter identification policies.

"There’s bad stuff going on,” Trump said.

At Saturday's event, the former president focused on immigration, his plans for the economy and promoting support he's received from Muslims in Michigan. Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi and Imam Belal Alzuhairi of Hamtramck spoke in support of Trump at the rally.

A group of Muslim men stood on stage with Trump. And Bazzi, who is also Muslim, referenced ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

“I have never seen the devastation that we’re seeing right now," Bazzi said. "When President Trump was president, there was peace."

Amid what's expected to be an extremely close race for the White House against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Republicans are attempting to make gains with Michigan's contingent of early voters — whether they're individuals who vote in person before Election Day or use an absentee ballot.

But public polling has suggested that Trump, who has previously questioned the integrity of mailed-in absentee ballots, continues to struggle with early voters in Michigan, while he performs better with those who cast ballots on Election Day.

About 1.4 million absentee ballots have already been returned in Michigan, representing about 25% of the total votes in the 2020 presidential race. State Democrats are hoping to build a firewall of support before voting even opens on Election Day.

U.S. Rep. John James, R-Mich., and Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, spoke at the rally in Novi before the former president. Both James and Miller promoted early voting.

It would be "insane" for the Detroit Lions to let their opponents run up the score and then try to catch up late in the fourth quarter, James argued, comparing that idea to Republicans waiting en masse to vote on Election Day.

"Please, go out and vote and get 10 friends to go out and vote," James urged the crowd.

'Funny business'

Trump lost Michigan's 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden by 154,000 votes or 3 percentage points, 48%-51%.

Afterward, Trump advanced unproven claims that widespread fraud influenced the outcome, and his supporters unsuccessfully attempted to overturn the result through the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress. Meanwhile, a series of court rulings, an investigation by a Republican state Senate committee and bipartisan canvassing boards upheld Biden's victory in Michigan.

Anthony Whipkey, 43, of St. Clair Shores attended Trump's rally on Saturday and said he planned to vote early "right" after it. Whipkey said he had never voted early in the past.

"We want to try to get our votes in and sanctified before, you know, any kind of funny business, again," Whipkey said.

Under a ballot measure approved in Michigan in 2022, election officials across the state must offer early, in-person voting for at least nine days beginning Saturday and ending on Nov. 3.

Whether Trump can boost his support in suburban areas of Michigan and with those who cast ballots ahead of Nov. 5 could determine if he beats Harris.

Oakland County

Four years ago, Trump lost Oakland County, where he spoke Saturday, by 108,177 votes, 42%-56%, to Biden.

Republicans in Oakland County have been "laser focused" on reaching out to voters for the last two years, said Vance Patrick, chairman of the county GOP.

"Am I going to guarantee a red wave?" Patrick said before Trump's speech. "It's going to be less bad than it was last time."

Patrick said organizers of Saturday's rally were expecting about 4,500 people to attend.

Trump won Michigan in 2016, beating Democrat Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes statewide, about 0.2% of the total vote. That year, he lost Oakland County by 53,867 votes, 43%-51%, about half of his margin of defeat in 2020.

Trump rallied voters in Traverse City late Friday night before his Saturday event in suburban Detroit. His Democratic opponent, Harris, will be campaigning Saturday afternoon with former first lady Michelle Obama in Kalamazoo.

Democrats have been criticizing Trump's record on the auto industry in recent days, noting that the number of jobs in vehicle and parts manufacturing in Michigan declined during his first term — including before the COVID-19 pandemic hit — according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"After insulting Detroit and mocking auto workers, Trump is coming back to Michigan, a state that lost 280,000 jobs during his presidency as he gave tax cuts to companies sending jobs overseas," said Shafeeqa Kolia, a spokeswoman for the Harris campaign in Michigan. "A second Trump term would be an even bigger risk to the stability and security of hardworking families."

'It's guaranteed'

On Saturday, Trump touted his plans to place tariffs on vehicles made outside the United States and to lower the corporate income tax from 21% to 15% for those that make their products inside the country.

"We want these companies coming back to this state," Trump told the crowd.

He wants to see a "miracle" happen for the auto industry in Detroit and Michigan, he said.

“It’s going to happen," Trump said. "And it’s guaranteed.”

Elizabeth Sutherland, 37, of Highland, a Trump supporter who attended the rally Saturday, said she favors how the former president handles the economy. Her construction contracting business was doing better under the former president than it is now under Biden and Harris, she said.

"They're reserving those bigger projects that we were doing," Sutherland said of her customers. "Instead of doing an entire deck, maybe (they're) doing like board replacement."

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