The campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris leaned into star power Tuesday night with a rally in Detroit featuring former President Barack Obama and Eminem.

The event leaned heavily into the narrative the Harris campaign has been pushing that Trump is both out of touch with working class people and possibly in cognitive decline.

Obama brought up lies Trump has told about the 2020 election being stolen, and false claims that FEMA funds were diverted away from hurricane relief.

Obama said it’s time to stop giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.

“We act like it’s okay. Or at least those who say they support him, they say well, you know, he’s just joking or it’s not that serious. Or, as long as we win, that’s how politics is played. No, it’s not,” Obama said.

Earlier in the speaking lineup, Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow referenced Trump’s recent comments calling some notable Democrats “the enemy within.”

“What does he mean about that? I assume he means anybody who disagrees with him,” Stabenow said.

In a press release ahead of the visit, the Trump campaign said it’s not worried about the Obama appearance, adding that it suggested Obama himself was out of touch.

Victoria LaCivita is the spokesperson for Trump’s campaign efforts in Michigan.

“You know things aren’t going well for Democrats when they have to fly in Barack Obama from his $12 million Martha’s Vineyard estate and his ‘high eight-figure’ Netflix production deal to campaign for Kamala Harris during the homestretch. And while it’ll probably be a slightly less unhinged affair than what other Kamala surrogates are doing to move the needle, an Obama visit isn’t going to convince Michiganders to vote for another four years of open borders, rising prices, and disaster at home and abroad,” LaCivita said in a statement.

With two weeks left until election day, the presidential race remains tight in Michigan, a key swing state. Tuesday’s rally in Detroit sought to bring enough excitement to the Harris ticket to break through the noise.

Speakers met the crowd with the popular Detroit greeting, “What up, doe?” Obama came on stage to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself.’ And Detroit Lions legend Calvin Johnson Jr. gave the first speech to a packed room at the Huntington Place convention center.

Eminem said supporters need to volunteer with the campaign and knock on doors.

“There are still a lot of people who have not made up their minds about this election. And they’re not going to be convinced by another ad or another email. They’re going to get out and vote because of people like you and me. So, with that being said, politics is not a spectator sport,” he said.

Early in-person voting is already open in Detroit and will become available statewide on Saturday.

Both Harris and Trump will be back in Michigan later this week to continue rallying voters. That includes competing events on Saturday.

A group of former state GOP politicians, staffers and consultants announced Thursday that they are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for President.

Many members of the group are well-known in state GOP circles and say they hope to move enough other Republicans to vote Democratic to make a difference in the swing state of Michigan.  

Former Congressman Dave Trott, who represented southeast Michigan in the U.S. House from 2015 to 2019, said Republican nominee Donald Trump was a disappointment as president and poses a danger if returned to the White House.

“He’s emotionally, intellectually, psychologically and, of course, morally unfit to be president,” Trott said during an online news conference.

Trott said he voted for Trump in 2016 but then for President Joe Biden four years later. Trott said the Jan. 6 insurrection and Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election result confirmed his judgment.

“Now Trump is more dangerous than ever,” Trott said. “He promised to be a dictator on day one. He’s called for the termination of our Constitution. Let me repeat, a candidate for president in this country has called for terminating our Constitution.”

Trott was referring to a December 2022 post on his social media site Truth Social complaining about the outcome of the 2020 election.

“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump said. Trump later tried to walk it back, but did not remove the post.

Members of the Michigan Republicans for Harris group say their differences with the Democratic nominee are minimal compared their fears about a second Trump presidency.

Long-time GOP strategist and advisor Bill Nowling said Trump mismanaged the economy and foreign policy when he was in office and on January 6th showed he is a threat to a stable democracy.

“We’ve been down this road before,” said Nowling. “We know where it ends. It ends in tyranny. It ends in protests. It ends in mobs taking over our illustrious capitol.”

The announcement of the Republican group’s support for Harris coincided with Trump’s campaign visit to Saginaw. The region is considered key to winning the battleground state of Michigan.               

Trump’s Michigan campaign spokesperson dismissed the announcement.

“Former Rep. Trott hasn’t been a Republican for years, and frankly no one cares what he says,” said Victoria LaCivita in an email. “Michigan families are worried about paying their bills, putting food on the table, and saving for their kids’ college tuition.

Any ‘Republican’ campaigning for another four years of unfettered illegal immigration and rising prices under Kamala Harris is neither Republican nor worth listening to.”