Vice President Kamala Harris visited Detroit on Monday to tout the The Biden administration economic program, presenting it as a transformational investment to help Americans prosper, establish onshore supply chains and reduce racial disparities on various fronts, from business lending to homeownership.
The stop — part of the vice president’s nationwide economic opportunity tour — drew nearby pro-Palestinian protesters who decried the Biden administration’s Gaza policies.
In Detroit, Harris announced more than $100 million in U.S. Department of Energy grant programs to help small and medium-sized auto parts manufacturers convert their facilities to make electric vehicle parts and increase their productivity.
“This investment will help maintain our automotive supply chains here in America…and keep those jobs here in Detroit,” Harris said at the event at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History under an American flag and blue signs. declaring “economic opportunity for all” in big capital letters. It also announced the launch of a new program to help small and medium-sized automotive suppliers by combining government-guaranteed loans with private capital.
President Joe Biden campaigned extensively on preserving American democracy and abortion rights, while his likely Republican opponent this fall, former President Donald Trump, attempted to exploit anti-immigration and economic grievances on the campaign trail. But Harris’ stop in the Motor City represented an election year for the administration of a key battleground state to tout its economic policies.
“So, Michigan, you know, I believe that the American economy is fueled by the ambition and aspiration of our people…to innovate, to create and to prosper. Therefore, to grow our economy, we must invest in this ambition and these aspirations I believe that every person in our country must then have access to the opportunity to compete to succeed and to flourish,” Harris said as he opened his speech.
A crowd of mostly black supporters stood and greeted her with loud applause as the Cass Tech marching band bid farewell to Harris with a booming number that reverberated loudly throughout the museum atrium.
US Secretary of Energy and former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm joined Harris for the event, where she touted aspects of electric vehicles…
