Some Michigan Trump supporters sidestep question about accepting election result

NOVI, Mich. — Supporters of Republican Donald Trump said on Saturday they're confident the former president will win Michigan's election but heavily concerned about lingering and unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.

Trump told a crowd at a rally inside the Suburban Collection Showplace convention hall in Oakland County that if he wins Michigan, he'll "win the whole deal," 10 days before the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Four years ago, Trump lost Michigan to Democrat Joe Biden by 154,188 votes or 3 percentage points, 48%-51%. The Republican then refused to accept the result and contended, without evidence to prove his assertions, that systemic fraud swayed the race, igniting protests, litigation and distrust that targeted the election process.

Asked in a series of interviews Saturday if they would accept the result of Michigan's upcoming election if Trump loses, some of his most vocal supporters gave unclear answers at the rally in Novi. Isaiah Goddard, a member of the United Auto Workers from Dearborn, said he was still waiting to see what happens.

"That's why I want to be a poll challenger on Election Day," Goddard responded when asked if he would believe a Trump loss in Michigan.

Meanwhile, Goddard, who works at the Ford Motor Co.'s Rawsonville Plant, said he was "very confident" Trump would win on Nov. 5.

However, public polls have shown a neck-and-neck race between the former president and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for Michigan's 15 electoral votes this fall. In 2016, Trump won Michigan against Democrat Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes, or 0.2% of the overall vote total in the state.

On the campaign trail this year, Trump has continued to reference unproven claims of fraud about his 2020 loss to Biden. During his lone debate with Harris, Trump said he was still unwilling to concede the 2020 election.

In Michigan, Trump's loss has been upheld by bipartisan canvassing boards, a series of court rulings and an investigation by a Republican-controlled Michigan Senate Oversight Committee.

"Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people," Harris said during the September debate. "So let's be clear about that. And clearly, he is having a very difficult time processing that."

During his June debate against Biden, when Biden was still the Democratic candidate, Trump said he would accept the result of the upcoming election if it's "a fair and legal and good election."

On Saturday, state Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, an ardent Trump supporter, said he believes Trump will win on Nov. 5 and then made an unsubstantiated claim about Democratic cheating.

"I think we're beyond the 300,000 fraudulent votes that the Democrats are going to cast," Maddock added.

Asked where the 300,000 vote number came from, Maddock said it came from "experts," including people associated with My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, who's been sued for defamation by election technology company Dominion Voting Systems.

On whether he would question the results if Trump loses on Nov. 5, Maddock replied, "I think we should always question the results."

His wife, former Michigan Republican Party Co-Chairwoman Meshawn Maddock, said people aren't going to have to talk about whether to accept the election results.

"There is overwhelming energy for Trump, and Trump is going to win," she said.

Meshawn Maddock said hundreds of Republican poll workers had been recruited and 300 of them will be working at Huntington Place, where absentee ballots are counted in Detroit.

"I'm not going to report that to The Detroit News," Meshawn Maddock said, when asked what she would be looking for to determine if the election was fair.

Meshawn Maddock was one of 16 Michigan Republicans whose signatures appeared on a certificate in December 2020 that falsely claimed Trump won the state's 16 electoral votes. Trump's campaign and political advisers used the false electoral certificates from battleground states in an unsuccessful bid to overturn the loss to Biden in Congress.

Anthony Whipkey, a 43-year-old Trump supporter from St. Clair Shores, said he would cast his ballot early before Election Day and before "any kind of funny business."

"Last election, we were hoping for that red wave, and with all of the funny business that was going on, it didn't turn out the way we wanted. But I really do think he's going to win," Whipkey added of Trump.

Whipkey said he was referring to problems with voting machines and the way Trump was leading in initial results but losing when the final ballots were counted.

Standing toward the back of Suburban Collection Showplace, former U.S. Rep. Kerry Bentivolio, R-Milford, made the extremely unlikely prediction that Trump would win all 50 states.

Asked if he would accept a Trump loss in Michigan, Bentivolio told a reporter, "You gotta be kidding me."

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