DETROIT – Detroit mayor Mike Duggan may be hinting at future plans.
Duggan appeared on Politico's podcast "Off Message" on Tuesday to talk about Detroit.
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“I was appalled at so many things,” Mayor Mike Duggan told POLITICO. “That the buses just weren’t running and people stood out on the corners in the winter for hours at a time. That every vacant building in the city was covered with graffiti and nobody cared. The lack of anybody caring was heartbreaking.”
“The great majority of Detroiters understand that we’re not going to be able to have a full recovery in every neighborhood at once, but most seem to feel that the pace of change is going in the right direction,” Duggan said. “And of course, nobody’s offered a solution to, OK, I’ve got 20,000 more Detroiters working than four years ago. What was your plan that would have done more than that? And I think the lack of an alternative is a big part of the support.”
Duggan talked about why Hillary Clinton didn't get more votes in Michigan:
“‘If Barack Obama in eight years didn’t create opportunity for me, why is Hillary Clinton going to do more?’” Duggan said, recalling his conversations with black Detroiters during the campaign. “It’s just that when you had Donald Trump embracing the David Dukes of the world, it overrode the economic message.”
“I think there was a far greater alignment between people of color and Caucasians who want to work hard, want to get new skills, want to benefit from a stronger economy than there is a difference,” he said. “At some point, somebody in this country is going to figure out that no matter what color you are, what people want is opportunity to work hard, get more skills and raise the standard of living for their family.”
“Had Michigan decided this election, I probably would have been haunted by that for a long time,” Duggan said.
Duggan then suggested that if Joe Biden would have ran in 2016, he would be president. Politico noted that Duggan sounded like he'd be ready to chair Biden 2020.
“Well, you know, I’d do it if Joe Biden wanted,” he said.
“He’s loved here,” Duggan said, then on his own, turned wistful about the death of Beau Biden, and the effect on his father. “If it had been at a different point, he would be president now.”
Duggan also said there's no chance he's going to run for governor of Michigan in 2018, stating that Lansing isn't appealing to him.
Duggan also talked about Betsy DeVos joining the Trump cabinet.
“There was far more interest in her political agenda than in educating kids,” Duggan said. “She’s doing the same thing in Washington that she did here.”
Read more of the interview here or listen to the podcast here.