Pence stumps for Schuette in Michigan, visits Rochester construction HQ

June 16--Vice President Mike Pence toured a construction site in Rochester on Friday, stumped for Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, and was met with protests at both stops.

At a closed-to-the-press Birmingham fundraiser for Schuette's bid for the Republican nomination for governor, a crowd of protesters gathered outside the Townsend Hotel and denounced both Pence and Schuette.

Sam Inglot from Progress Michigan told the crowd of 30 protesters, "The vision of Schuette and Pence is one where those with wealth and power get what they want and where the working class have to do more with less."

Representatives from Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign were also present. In their speeches they criticized Schuette's and Pence's records on reproductive rights, the environment and LGBT rights.

Flint Rising's Nayyirah Shariff demanded that Schuette charge Gov. Rick Snyder with crimes against humanity for inaction during the Flint water crisis. She brought along a puppet of Schuette to emphasize her point.

After the fundraiser ended, Pence went to Rochester to tour the new headquarters under construction at Frank Rewold and Son, Inc., a construction company. The building was decked out with American flags -- including one hanging from a crane -- for the vice president's visit.

An eager audience gathered more than an hour before Pence's arrival. The crowd was diverse but uniformly supportive of the current administration.

A man carrying a "Vietnam Veterans for Trump" sign whooped and hollered when John Philip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" came over the loudspeaker.

Nearby, 16-year-old Evan Catsburg, a sophomore at Stony Creek High School in Rochester Hills, showed off a flag with the words "Trump -- Make America Great Again," which he had fastened around his neck like a cape. "They wouldn't let me wear this to school," he said to television cameras.

Catsburg told the Free Press that he "absolutely, completely, wholeheartedly" supports the Trump administration's tax policies. "(Trump)'s done more in two years than the last presidents have done in thirty years," he said.

Frank Rewold, CEO of Rewold and Son, told reporters he credits the administration's tax policies with allowing him to hire more employees and double his firm's profit sharing.

Asked about Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs on the construction industry, Rewold seemed positive. "I think it will probably cause some short-term increases (in prices) but I think it will probably even out," he said.

By the time Pence arrived at the construction site, the crowd had swelled to 100. Pence entered through the back of the half-constructed headquarters and shook hands with Rewold, Vice President of Field Operations Dave Dimoff and laborer Jon Horning.

Rewold led Pence on a tour of the building. On the second floor, the Vice President spoke with workers, who put down their tools as he approached. Pence also met with three generations of the Rewold family.

In a brief address to the crowd, Pence touted Rewold's success as an example of the Trump tax cuts in effect. The new headquarters, he said, was evidence that "Rochester is rolling, Michigan is back, and America is coming back."

"Because of your support, we've been able to enact policies in Washington, D.C., that are bringing this economy roaring back," Pence told the crowd.

He attacked Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow for voting against the tax plan. "When it came to cutting your taxes, both of your senators actually voted no," he said.

The tax plan is helping everyday workers, Pence emphasized. "The proof is in our paychecks -- they are bigger. And I believe Michigan deserves better." Stabenow is seeking re-election in the fall.

DNC Midwest Press Secretary Mandy McClure contested Pence's remarks in a press release. "Pence has continued to claim that the Trump tax cut will benefit American workers, even though the bill is already causing health care costs to rise, unlikely to create jobs, and failing to raise wages. And despite Pence and the Trump administration's promises that the tax bill would pay for itself, the Congressional Budget Office concluded that the law will add more than $1.8 trillion to the national debt by 2028," she said.

Later, Pence flew out of Oakland County International Airport for Ohio, where he was scheduled to deliver more stump speeches.

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