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Donald Trump confidently touted to attendees at the Detroit Economic Club luncheon on Thursday that he was named the “Man of the Year” by the county’s Republican Party in 2013. The only problem is that he was not, and the newspaper clipping he brought to prove it had to issue a correction over it.
The former president seemed determined to set the record straight about a long-running dispute that he falsely claims he was named “Man of the Year” by Michigan in 2013.
For years, Trump has asserted Michigan once bestowed him the honor. Multiple news outlets, including the New York Times, have fact-checked the assertion and determined no such award exists and Trump was never given it.
But the former president said that was “fake news” and “quite insulting” on Thursday evening.
So he pulled out the only piece of evidence his team could muster about the claim, a 2023 article from the Oakland Press that said Trump was once named “Man of the Year” at the Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner.
Hours later, the Oakland Press issued a correction at the top of the article clarifying that they incorrectly stated Trump was named “Man of the Year” in 2013.
“Trump was the keynote speaker at the 2013 dinner in Novi, which drew a record crowd. He was not honored as Man of the Year. During the 2023 dinner, Trump was honored as the Man of the Decade which was reported in the 2023 story,” the editors’ note read.
The correction seems to be the culmination of an eight-year saga in which Trump has bragged about winning the Michigan “Man of the Year” at least 20 times while in office, during the 2020 presidential cycle and again during this current presidential campaign.
It was only in 2023 that the Oakland County Republican Party gave Trump his first “Man of the Decade” award – which was already at least seven years since the former president began claiming he won “Man of the Year.”
Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign communications director, said in a statement, “This was widely reported, including in the local press outlet, that confirmed over a year ago that President Trump received the 2013 Man of the Decade award during the GOP Lincoln Day Dinner, because he represents the epitome of the American Dream and building successful businesses that empowered his employees.”
