President-Elect Donald Trump will hold a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan this evening.
Trump’s event will begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, although Trump sometimes takes the stage a bit later than originally scheduled. The rally can be viewed live in the embedded YouTube player via Right Side Broadcasting.
This event is a part of Donald Trump’s “USA Thank You Tour,” during which the president-elect is traveling the country to speak to supporters in key swing states that helped him win on November 8th. Michigan is one of the rust belt states that was considered to be a lock for Hillary Clinton but that shocked pundits by choosing Donald Trump instead.
However, the race there was so tight that it was not actually certified by the Michigan Board of Canvassers until 20 days after the election. In the end, Donald Trump took the state by a margin of just 10,700 votes. Without Michigan, however, Trump would have still easily won the election; he would simply fall down to 290 Electoral College votes, 20 more than the number required.
These “Thank You” rallies have thus far been more about appeasing Trump’s own supporters than about reaching out to the entire nation and to those who did not vote for him. Trump’s tone has softened slightly since prior to the election, but he is still firing up his fans with promises to build a wall along the southern border and completely put an end to illegal immigration.
Because Trump has been avoiding the press almost entirely since the election, these rallies have also become his platform through which he can spread his message to the world and respond to criticism. During a rally on Thursday, Trump defended his decision to appoint so many billionaires to his cabinet.
“I want people that made a fortune because now they are negotiating with you, okay?” Trump said. “It’s no different than a great baseball player or a great golfer.”