President Trump-backed House candidates are warning of “failed Democratic” policies in the Great Lakes state, saying China's growing influence in Michigan is a “major concern” to voters in the key battleground state. He said that it has become.
“This is a huge concern from a national security and economic security standpoint,” Tom Barrett, a Republican candidate for Congress from Michigan, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview this week. “Here in Michigan, Democrats are giving nearly $200 million in state tax dollars to Chinese-backed Communist Party companies that are coming to Michigan to build battery factories. They're buying in bulk and moving to build a Chinese Communist Party-backed battery factory in Michigan, not far from the military facility where I spent countless hours training during my Army career. ”
Barrett is an Army veteran who previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives and the State Senate before running to represent the 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Barrett won Trump's “full and utter support” for the House seat earlier this year, emphasizing on the campaign trail such topics as rising inflation, border policy, fentanyl overdose deaths and China's growth. He spoke to Fox News Digital about the main issues facing the world. Influence on the state.
“At a time when families in Michigan are struggling to make ends meet to buy groceries and pay to heat their homes, our state government, with the support of my opponent, They're sending nearly $200 million to Chinese communist companies. You can come here and spy on us, this is rotten to the core,” Barrett said.
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Republican Michigan State Sen. Tom Barrett, his party's candidate for Michigan's 7th Congressional District, addresses supporters on the campaign trail. (Tom Barrett in charge of Parliament)
In 2022, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that China-based manufacturing company Goshon would build a $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery factory in a rural part of the state near Big Rapids. The announcement faced anger from residents, including local leaders who are working to cancel a water supply agreement that could prevent construction of the power plant. Gothion sued the township of Green Charter and won a legal victory last month when a federal judge upheld a preliminary injunction allowing construction to continue.
Barrett's rival this term, Curtis Hertel, served as Whitmer's legislative director from 2015 to 2023 before serving in the state Senate.
“My opponent signed a non-disclosure agreement negotiating remittances to this Chinese company while a state senator and then worked as Governor Gretchen Whitmer's chief lobbyist. “We had secret conversations with this Chinese company to try to get Congress to approve funding,” Barrett said of the rival and the state's Democrats. spoke.
Hertel's campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for contact.
A spokesperson for Whitmer's “Fight Like Hell” PAC told Fox News Digital that Barrett's comments were “misleading.”
“This is yet another desperate attempt by Tom Barrett to distract from his record of voting against 5,000 good-paying jobs in mid-Michigan because he wants to work overseas. “This is an attempt to mislead,” the spokesperson said.
Barrett pointed to comments from former Obama administration CIA Director Leon Panetta, who warned earlier this year that China would likely use battery factories for espionage purposes.
“I don't think there's any question that they're trying to take advantage of that situation,” Panetta warned in January when asked about the plant by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Hearings. “And I think we have to be very vigilant about what the heck is going on. That's the way they do it. They will use it for their own economic purposes. ”
Barrett said the deal not only threatens national security but also puts American jobs at risk.
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”It's all part of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' pursuit of electric vehicle policies that systematically displace and eliminate Michigan's existing manufacturing jobs, which constitute the very foundation of Michigan's economy. That means some Chinese companies are threatening to replace U.S. jobs in traditional manufacturing with electric vehicle mandates paid for by the Biden administration due to national security concerns. So there are so many problems with this. It’s just a terrible deal,” he said.
Former state Sen. Tom Barrett, Republican and U.S. House of Representatives candidate from Michigan, speaks at the August 2024 primary election night party. (Nick Antaya/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The people of Michigan are being proactive. They recognize this. It's deeply unpopular here. And we're taking this fight to the ballot box to stop this from happening.” It is necessary to do so.”
President Trump joined farmers earlier this week at a panel discussion in Pennsylvania, another battleground state, to discuss China's recent purchases of U.S. farmland and the re-enforcement of a trade deal with China that would benefit U.S. farmers. .
“My first call is going to be to President Xi, saying, 'You have to honor the agreement you made. We made the agreement. You're going to buy $50 billion worth of American agricultural products.' 'And I guarantee you 100 percent he'll buy it,' Trump said Monday at a campaign event in Smithton, Pennsylvania.
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President Trump signed a trade deal with China in 2020 that included a commitment by Beijing to stop intellectual property theft, refrain from currency manipulation, and cooperate in financial and financial services. Ta. Purchase an additional $200 billion in U.S. products This includes up to $50 billion in U.S. agriculture.
“The second thing I would say is that fentanyl dealers who are shipping fentanyl should be given the death penalty. sentenced to death in China. They don’t have a drug problem because they have a death sentence,” President Trump said.
Former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks on while campaigning to address Pennsylvanians concerned about the threat of communist China to U.S. agriculture at the Smith Family Farm in Smithton, Pennsylvania, September 23, 2024. president. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Fentanyl and overdose deaths continue to be among the top concerns for Americans this election cycle, with President Trump touting the deadly drug and the influx of illegal immigrants pouring in from the southern border under the Biden-Harris administration. It's tied together.
Barrett said his region and district are among communities across the country reeling from the influx of synthetic opioids across the border.
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“Not just the district where I'm running for office, but every community, every town in America, affected and affected and ravaged by illegal immigration and lax border policies that have flooded every community. And right now, the leading cause of death for Americans my age is fentanyl overdose, and this is a terrible, devastating tragedy, and we have to solve this problem.”
“We have to secure our borders with more structures. We have to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy. We have to abuse asylum claims to overwhelm the social welfare system and overwhelm border security. “We need to have Border Patrol.” We need to go back to two policies: deploying agents at the border and stopping illegal border crossings, rather than processing asylum cases all day long, as we do now. Yes,” he continued.
Barrett is an Army veteran who signed his contract during Christmas break during his senior year of high school. He spent 22 years in the Army, serving in the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay in Kuwait, and the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea.
Republican House candidate and former Army pilot Tom Barrett appears in a still image of a campaign ad. (Tom Barrett campaign)
Barrett pointed to her military background in her call for border security.
Early voting begins in Illinois, North Dakota, Florida and Michigan
“I spent a year of my life deployed to Guantanomo Bay, Cuba, on Operation Enduring Freedom. There were terrorists, we were securing them at that facility, and they confronted us face-to-face. They said they wanted to come and kill Americans.'' We believe them. We need to keep them out of our country. We know that hundreds of people have already entered this country during this administration. we need to eliminate them. We will not allow any more terrorists to enter our country.”
Barrett is in the lead in the race against Hertel, but he stressed he is not taking anything for granted.
“I think President Trump is poised to win Michigan. I know it's going to be a very close race, but I can't take anything for granted. I'm running for Michigan State No. 7. “It's a very competitive race,” he said, “and there's a very competitive U.S. Senate race in Michigan.”
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“This is really going to determine the direction of our country, and we could continue down the same path of failure that we've been on, with high costs of living, groceries, and mortgage rates that families can't afford.” A young couple can start a family of their own, or they can secure borders, curb crime, return foreign enemies to their place, and forge a truly new path. For America. ”
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