Donald Trump Jr. Strikes Blue Collar Tone In Detroit [VIDEO]
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Dressed casually in jeans and a blue zip-up sweatshirt, Donald Trump Jr. stopped into a Michigan Republican Party field office in downtown Detroit Wednesday to lay out the case for his father.
Following that, he had appearances at 12:30 p.m. at Michigan State University in East Lansing, and at 3:30 p.m. at Grand Valley State University in Allendale.
Perhaps it was the busy day, but Trump Jr. drew a round of laughs when he appeared not to know the birthdays of his five children.
"I have five kids, I'm the father of five young kids, 9, 7, 5, 4, and 2," he said, to an appreciative crowd cheering and egging him on.
"What are their birth dates?" a cheering woman shouted out. "Five kids?"
Trump Jr. made an apologetic face with a shrug, and laughed, saying "We'll get to that later... I also know how that happens now, so my brother bought me a flat screen TV, I've got a new hobby, we're all good."
He pivoted into a discussion of Obamacare, and how expensive it is for normal folks.
"Every week I feel like I'm in the doctor's office for something else. They're young, they get in trouble. It's $500 here, $1,000 here. I'm lucky, I have good insurance, if you have a $9,000 deductible, regardless of what the premiums are, and how far they've gone up, you don't have insurance, you have to get hit by a bus for that insurance to kick in."
The crowd was largely African American, a group his father has struggled to draw. But the small sampling this morning seemed supportive, with lots of applause and murmurs of approval.
"It's not a campaign anymore, it's a movement," he said about his father's race for the White House.
Trump Jr. was spreading a bi-partisan message, talking about how both Republicans and Democrats have allowed education to fall behind and job opportunities to flounder.
He said men and women have come up to him with tears in their eyes "excited for the first time" that someone is willing to take on that system on their behalf for the first time.
"You know you're doing something right when everyone on Wall Street hates you, the elite media hate you, Hollywood hates you, and when politicians on both sides of the aisle hate you," he said. "All of those elites, they know how the system works, and it works for them."
The man born a millionaire went on to say "If you're not one of them, you're not getting any of it. That's gotta change."
He added that Michigan isn't "supposed to be in play" for a Republican.
Judging by the latest poll numbers and the number of visits planned by Trump and his surrogates, some do believe Michigan is in play. Children Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump — as well as vice presidential candidate Mike Pence are all coming to Michigan this week.
Hillary Clinton returns to Detroit on Friday.
Clinton's once-commanding lead of 11 points in Michigan has shrunk to a 4 to 8 point lead, depending on the poll you're looking at.
National polls show Trump with leads in Florida, Ohio and Iowa, and Clinton leading or tied with Trump in North Carolina. Clinton hangs onto leads in Maine, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Wisconsin and Colorado and is ahead or tied with Trump in Nevada.
"We have so many executives -- executives -- high level executives in our organization and they started out as doormen, security guys, construction industry guys, drivers," Trump Jr. said. "They didn't go to fancy colleges or have some sort of fancy degree, but my father saw in them a work ethic, a street smarts, something that separated them, and he gave them opportunities that no other executive would do because they didn't have those little fancy titles.
"But he saw something in them and that's why they've been with us for 20 years, 35 years. That's why they continue to excel at the highest level of our organization, without MBAs. My father sees that potential in people."
