Mr Trump has sought to tap into the support of traditional blue collar workers whose jobs are threatened, in a way that echoed his support for industries such as coal miners in 2016.
He claimed electric vehicles, EVs, were only suitable for “very short trips”, even though Bloomberg reported the average range of EVs sold in 2023 was 290 miles.
“These are built specifically for people that want to take very short trips ‘Hop in the car darling. Let’s drive down to the store and let’s drive back’,” Mr Trump said.
He also claimed the public had little interest in EVs and that they could be bought for “peanuts”, even though independent data shows sales in 2023 are likely to exceed one million vehicles.
Mr Trump decided to skip the debate as polls show him as as many as 40 points ahead of his nearest rival.
The scale of his lead, and the fact he was not there, probably made some of the other Republicans feel they had to try and land a blow on him if their campaigns were to continue.
Indeed, several of them did so in an event that was much much rambunctious than the first debate.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a former Trump ally, claimed he “hides behind the walls of his golf clubs and won’t show up here to answer questions like all the rest of us are up here to answer”.
Mr Trump’s decision to speak from Michigan, was almost certainly not left to chance, as it is one of the most crucial of the battleground states.
