Rashida Tlaib talks U.S. presidential election

Former DemocraticMichigan House of Representatives member, Rashida Tlaib, has been vocal against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during the campaign.

The CBC's Lisa Xingspoke with Tlaib in Detroit and here's her take on the election.

A lot of visits from Trump, the Clintons. Why is there so much attention being paid to Detroit and Michigan now?

Michigan and Florida have always been one of those swing states. People think it's a slam dunk for Democrats, but we've seen it change a bit. We do have a Republican legislature, a Republicangovernor, so it's not a surprise to see so many people lean towards Trump versus Hillary Clinton.

We hear from a lot of voters that this election is really about choosing the lesser of two evils. How does that play out in Detroit and Michigan?

This is a generation that grew up with President Obama, a different kind of candidate very inspiring for so many. I think Hillary Clinton is somebody we've known for a very long time. A lot of people think of her as part of the establishment. But one thing I've noticed changing not as the best of two evils just saying look, do we vote for a candidate this time, or do we vote for our country? And a lot of people are saying this is for our country.

It doesn't really seem like people are excited to vote this time. Not like when Obama ran in 2008 and 2012?

We saw over 60 per cent of absentee voters [last time]. This year it's about 51 per cent. It's hard because President Obama was such a reflection of where we wanted to head in regards to where we wanted our country to head towards. Even though [Hillary Clinton]is separate from her husband, for many it's not. President Clinton brought welfare reform that really hurt so many Black families. And then you've got NAFTA. NAFTA is a huge issue among Detroiters.