Former President Donald Trump has gained the endorsement of one of the largest police unions in Michigan as he looks to shore up support in the vital battleground state ahead of the 2024 election.
The Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) endorsed Trump after the former president finished making remarks at an event with law enforcement in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday. POAM President James Tignanelli cited the ongoing border crisis under the Biden administration as a main reason the union was backing Trump for the White House. POAM also endorsed Trump in 2016 and 2020.
“Why would you expect people to obey the law when millions are rewarded for disobeying it?” Tignanelli asked before announcing the union’s endorsement of Trump. “We need you to make America look great again.”
“On behalf of 12,000 Law Enforcement people that the Police Officers Association of Michigan represent—We want you to accept our endorsement for President of the United States,” Tignanelli added.
Happening Now in Grand Rapids, Michigan…
“On behalf of 12,000 Law Enforcement people that the Police Officers Association of Michigan represent—We want you to accept our endorsement for President of the United States.” #LESM pic.twitter.com/hXSnnPp7gW
— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) April 2, 2024
The POAM president also discussed Trump’s presence at the wake of slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller last month, saying what Trump did “brought honor to every police officer, every deputy sheriff, every law enforcement officer.”
“Wherever we were in this country, when we saw what you did … that’s a boost for all of us,” said Tignanelli.
POAM’s endorsement came minutes after Trump addressed the murder of 25-year-old Ruby Garcia, a Grand Rapids woman who was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant last month. During his remarks on “Biden’s border bloodbath,” Trump discussed how the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, also 25, was deported under his administration before again entering the U.S. illegally. Garcia’s body was found with multiple gunshot wounds on the side of a highway in late March before Ortiz-Vite was arrested and charged just a few days later.
The former president said he spoke to some of Garcia’s family who are now “left grieving for this incredible young woman.”
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“They said she had just this most contagious laughter, and when she walked into a room, she lit up that room,” Trump added.
Trump argued that the ongoing crisis under Biden means “every state is now a border state, every town is now a border town because Joe Biden has brought the carnage and chaos and killing from all over the world and dumped it straight into our backyards.”
While POAM’s third endorsement of Trump comes with no surprise, the support of a 12,000-member-strong police union in the vital battleground state of Michigan is another win for the former president who is seeking to ride his current momentum into November. According to the RealClearPolitcs average of polling data, Trump leads Biden in Michigan by more than three percentage points. Trump won the state over Hillary Clinton in 2016 before falling to Biden in Michigan in 2020.