He is right.
@Pandora makes some good points, but I haven’t seen any of my right wing friends care about that angle. I do though.
There has been a lot of corruption in Detroit politics from what I understand.
Detroit is not only about dems v rep, but also it is a race issue I would think just like the city I lived near most recently; Memphis. Detroit goes Democrat not only because of the unions, but also because there is a high number of black people living there. I think it is something like 80% black in the city proper, but I am not sure if voting rights extend out beyond those lines.
I don’t think there are a lot of jobs right in Detroit, maybe someone else will know more info. A lot of the car related manufacturing is outside of Detroit in surrounding areas, and people have moved out there for work many years ago. When I live in MI 25 years ago Detroit was already semi abondoned and efforts to revitalize it never worked. I’ve always hoped there would be a rivival. The location is amazing, on the water, right across from Canada, nearby major airport, but the place for the most part is a wreck. Lots of abandoned areas. It was a downward spiral, I don’t think anyone could have stopped it once it started. Anyone who had any money moved for safer and better kept areas in the suburbs. There have been proposals to put in farms in Detroit I heard one to turn a large parcel of land into an apple orchard that would also serve as a park. I liked the idea.
I would bet there are cities around the country that have been run by Republicans that also are a mess. you could probably hold up as a counter example. I wish I had some for you.
Maybe just ask him what he thinks should have been done to save detroit, and see if he has a better solution that what has happened. That way he has to actually think and explain why and how the Republicans would have done better.