Trump makes late-night pitch in Michigan, Democrats are ‘nauseously optimistic’

Republican nominee’s closing argument stretches into early hours of Election Day morning at battleground state rally

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Supporters of Donald Trump outside the Republican nominee’s last rally of the election campaign, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Photo: Khushboo Razdan

Published: 4:42pm, 5 Nov 2024Updated: 5:35pm, 5 Nov 2024

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Donald Trump selected Michigan’s crucial Kent County as the final stop of his 2024 campaign, delivering a late-night closing argument in Grand Rapids just hours before Election Day, while state Democrats described themselves as “nauseously optimistic”.

“With your vote tomorrow we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America to new heights of glory,” the three-time Republican nominee promised a roaring crowd packed in the city’s Van Andel Arena, which holds about 12,000 people.

Trump described Grand Rapids as a “special place” before launching into a criticism of his Democratic challenger, Vice-President Kamala Harris, calling her a “radical left lunatic” and claiming that “everything’s a disaster” under President Joe Biden.

In both 2016 and 2020, Trump wrapped up his White House campaigns with late-night rallies in Grand Rapids, Michigan’s second-largest city, that stretched into the early hours of Election Day.

“I kept saying we have to finish off here … we can be a little superstitious, right?” Trump joked with his supporters during his 2020 rally.