Niraj Warikoo

Detroit Free Press

Speaking in Detroit today, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson said the city should embrace lower taxes and free markets as he condemned racism and praised immigrants.

"Detroit has the biggest opportunity in the country if they were to embrace genuine ... free-market," Johnson said at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. "Create a tax-free economic zone."

In his remarks at luncheon hosted by the Detroit Economic Club, Johnson laid out his political and economic ideas, calling for lower taxes, less government regulations, no foreign intervention in wars and fighting racism. He also called for a repeal of Obamacare and the elimination of the Department of Education, saying they were ineffective and too costly. Johnson spoke to reporters afterwards, addressing a range of issues.

The two-term former governor of New Mexico — which has the highest percentage of Latinos in the U.S. at 47% — passionately denounced bigotry against Latinos and African Americans. He said Donald Trump's remarks against Mexicans were racist and that if elected president, he would work to reduce racial disparities in police shootings and the criminal justice system that affect African Americans.

"We do have discrimination that exists in this country," Johnson said. "We've had our heads in the sand on this issue."

"Absolutely incendiary," he said of Trump's remarks on Latino immigrants. "It is racist, it is off the charts. And it's wrong, it's just wrong. It's creating a hatred that doesn't exist. It's creating an impression that doesn't exist, talking about them being murderers and rapists, when in fact statistically (they are) more law-abiding than U.S. citizens."

Trump has sought to soften his tone in recent weeks towards Latinos, saying he respects the contributions of Mexican Americans.

Talking about police abuse of African Americans, Johnson mentioned the case captured on video in Texas of a police officer who body-slammed an African-American woman. Johnson said, "I wouldn't have got body slammed" in that situation because he's white.

"All lives matter, but black lives matter," he said. "Blacks are getting shot at (by police) the rate six times as whites" and face other disparities, he said.

Johnson criticized U.S. intervention in the Middle East, saying that it was aligning with Islamists in Syria and caused the rise of ISIS by removing Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

"We supported the Free Syrian Army against the Assad administration, but they're allied with the Islamists," Johnson said. "We arm the Free Syrian Army ... arms end up in the Islamist hands."

Mentioning the various tangled alliances and enemies in the Middle East, Johnson said it's best for the U.S. to withdraw. He said "after 9/11, I supported going into Afghanistan. We were attacked, we attacked back."

But the U.S. should have left after six months when it defeated al-Qaida, he said.

"We should get out of Afghanistan tomorrow," he said. "For all of the horrible consequences that will exist tomorrow when getting out of Afghanistan ... those same circumstances" will be there in 20 years or later "if that's when we finally decide to get out."

Johnson also spoke in favor of immigrants, both legal and undocumented, saying they are the "cream of the crop" of workers.

"We should embrace immigration in this country," Johnson said. "We're a country of immigrants."

►Complete coverage:Elections 2016

Johnson said he reduced taxes 14 times as governor of New Mexico and often vetoed legislation.

"Not one penny of taxes went up," he said.

Johnson said he would have opposed the Detroit auto bailout as well as the Wall Street bailout, saying that bankruptcy should have been the way to solve the problem.

He said it's the private sector that creates jobs, not the government, criticizing market intervention by the state.

"Crony capitalism is alive and well," he said. "Pay-to-play exists. Government picks winners and losers."

Johnson called for states to handle the issue of welfare and said he had mixed views on unions.

"I found members of unions to be the best ... workers," but also "the worst workers I ever had (were) from a union."

With unions, "you have to pay everybody the same. That's my issue with unions. I don't think everybody's the same."

In New Mexico, Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1, but he got re-elected because "people really appreciate good stewardship of tax dollars," he said.

Regarding his chances of winning, Johnson said he's on the ballot in all 50 states, and hopes to get on the presidential debates. Candidates need to have at least 15% in the polls to be in the debates. He's been at about 9% nationally in polls, reported the Los Angeles Times. In Michigan, Johnson has 8% of the vote, according to an EPIC/MRA poll done after the Republican and Democratic conventions.

Libertarian candidate for president Gary Johnson heading to Detroit

Johnson spoke in Michigan on the same day that Trump was in the state, visiting Flint.

Regarding the water crisis in Flint, Johnson said, "This really is a catastrophic failure of government and the inability to communicate."

"I don't want to point fingers" in the Flint water crisis, but, he said, he had an open-door policy as governor and would continue that if elected president to address such issues.

"Government does go awry," he said.

"Nothing is going to change if you vote for the lesser of two evils," he told the Detroit crowd about the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.

"I think we have a chance to win," he said, speaking to reporters. "A wasted vote is a vote for something you don't believe in."

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Follow him on Twitter @nwarikoo