The visit comes less than two weeks since his last stop in MI, when he worshiped at a Detroit church.Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the House Of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 in Flint, Mich.
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“The Mayor also notes that City of Flint employees and the staff at the Flint Water Plant are focused on dealing with the continued Contamination in the drinking water, and can not afford the disruption of a last-minute visit”, the statement reads.
Ms Weaver said she would not be in Flint during Mr Trump’s visit as she was in now in Washington, DC, urging Congress to allocate funding to help fix the water crisis, the Detroit Free Press reported. It also highlights his aims to compete in the industrial Midwest, thought polls have him down in MI, which last went Republican in 1988.
Mayor Weaver went on to point out that neither Donald Trump nor any staff members from the Trump campaign have ever reached out to her since the Flint water crisis was officially recognized as an emergency in December 2015, and he never let her know that he was coming to the city this week.
“Flint is focused on fixing the problems caused by lead contamination of our drinking water, not photo ops”, said Weaver, who supports Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.
State Representative Sheldon Neeley criticised the visit, calling it “an opportunity to exploit the Flint community at-large”. “She’s the reason we had a presidential debate in Flint”.
He is expected to use this trip as part of his on-going effort to appeal to African American voters.
Critics say Trump paints an overly bleak picture of life in urban African-American communities, where crime has fallen and the life expectancy has risen in recent decades.
Weaver is in Washington D.C. trying to secure federal funding to help the city tackle the ongoing crisis.
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The celebrity businessman is also slated to hold a rally Wednesday night in the battleground state of OH – and tour the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
