【2008 Archives】

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to008 Archivesgotten more than he bargained for when he made a speaking appearance at Bethel United Methodist Church during his visit to Flint, Michigan, on Wednesday.

Trump began his speech by addressing job issues in Michigan, including car production. "It used to be cars were made in Flint and you couldn't drink the water in Mexico," he quipped. "Now the cars are made in Mexico and you can't drink the water in Flint. That's not good."

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As he continued on to talk about the economy and China, he turned to attacking his opponent, Hillary Clinton. At that moment, Rev. Faith Green Timmons, the church's pastor, interrupted Trump and told him, "Mr. Trump, I invited you here to thank us for what we've done in Flint, not to give a political speech."

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After the interruption, as a few audience members clapped, Trump turned back to Flint.

But the interruption seemed to embolden those in the sparse crowd. One woman shouted that Trump had used discriminatory housing practices in his buildings, an issue over which he was sued by the Justice Department. The celebrity businessman responded: "Never, you're wrong. Never would."

Trump continued to speak about Flint and Rev. Timmons admonished the crowd for their heckling. "He is a guest of my church and you will respect him," she said.

Following Rev. Timmons' comment, Trump spoke for a bit longer and seemed to abruptly end his speech as a man in the crowd began to heckle him.

One woman, Reneta Richard, yelled at him: "What do you mean, 'African-Americans have nothing to lose?'" She referred to Trump's recent call for African-Americans to turn their back on Democrats and vote for him.

The reverend said in a statement distributed to reporters that the visit "in no way" represented an endorsement of Trump's candidacy.

"What we pray is that it conveys a fine example of a faithful, intelligent, historically African-American [congregation] at work, serving and volunteering among the people of Flint as we work through this crisis of national impact," read the statement. "We cannot let this story drift from national attention for any reason."

Trump mentioned the incident at a later rally in Canton, Ohio, saying, "Some people in those communities aren't planning on voting for me and that's ok."

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Trump's relaxed demeanor may have been due to two new polls, one from Bloombergand one from CNN, that showed him ahead of Clinton in Ohio.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press