Harris promotes manufacturing in Michigan speech

Vice President Kamala Harris put manufacturing at the center of her closing message against former President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Michigan.

"I'm so excited about the work you all are doing here. This really does represent the best of who we are as a country. You know, I think that when we understand who we are as a nation, we take great pride in being a leader on so many things. And we have a tradition of that. But I think what we know as Americans is that we cannot rest on tradition. We have to constantly be on top of what is happening, what is current and investing in the industries of the future, as well as honoring the traditions and the industries that have built up America's economy," Harris said of her Republican opponent during a speech.

“We are eight days out from an election, so I've got to also talk about the contrast. Cause my opponent spends full time talking about, just kind of diminishing who we are as America, and talking down, and talking about that we're the garbage can of the world. We are not.” she added.

Just over a week before the Nov. 5 election, Harris’ manufacturing-focused visit was one of her final opportunities to cut into Trump’s polling edge on the economy in a state that has become an epicenter of nascent U.S. industries such as semiconductors and electric vehicles.

Ahead of her remarks, the Democratic presidential nominee toured the Hemlock Semiconductor facility, which recently received a $325 million investment from the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act.

The October All-America Economic Survey found 46% of respondents nationally said Trump would be better for the economy in their community versus 38% who said the same of Harris. That difference is outside the poll’s margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

In battleground states specifically, the poll found that Trump maintained a comparable 8-point edge, also outside the margin of error of 4.0 percentage points.