The Leelanau County government center and sheriff’s office reported a high call volume as county residents reacted to county Sheriff Mike Borkovich’s appearance on national TV at Donald Trump’s side in Grand Rapids on April 2, as the former president called for increased border security and deportations in response to the recent murder of a Michigan woman by an immigrant living in the country illegally.
Although Borkovich says that he did not appear alongside the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential candidate as a political endorsement, he has garnered criticism from residents for appearing in his county sheriff uniform and as a member of the Michigan Police Officers Association (MPOA), whose president had no such qualms about handing out an endorsement to Trump at the April 2 rally.
For his part, Borkovich described his meeting with former President Trump and the MPOA sheriffs as part of regular “police business” to the press. He also implied that he was held to a double standard, noting that police officers often meet with presidents and other important figures when they get the opportunity to “listen and see what they can do to make things better.”
