Jan. 25, 2026, 8:11 p.m. ET
The latest online video ad, which accuses Republican gubernatorial candidate John James of not being loyal enough to President Donald Trump, is just one of many issues James may have to deal with this year as he seeks the GOP nomination for governor.
Clearly, his ascent to the top of the GOP field of contenders represents a threat to some inside the Republican Party, who perhaps view the Shelby Township congressman as too politically ambitious by plotting his next political act after only two terms in Congress.
Contrary to the video criticizing his run for governor, James has been loyal to Trump. He’s never come out strongly against the president on the defining policy issues of the day. His past remark that he “supports Trump 2,000%” became a political albatross for his two failed Senate campaigns.
Even as Trump’s administration policies continue to have ripple effects across the country, James has not drawn a line between himself and the president. There is no indication he would stand up to Trump if he were governor barring a political Damascus experience.
The bigger problem James faces is with the Black community. If he were to be nominated, he would be only the second Black GOP gubernatorial nominee in the state’s history. (The first was Bill Lucas in 1986.) Regardless of how that could be appealing, it would be difficult for him to receive significant Black support in this climate, where Trump is not polling well because of the adverse impact of his policies across many diverse constituencies.
A case in point is how the Trump-backed Black Republican Winsome Earle-Sears lost massively to Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the Virginia governor’s race in November 2025. Her loss could be seen as a referendum on the president, whose unpopularity was growing.
More importantly, how does a Black Republican like James in this age make sense of the second Trump era to members of the Black community?
How does he explain why the Trump White House issued a very late acknowledgment of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the federal holiday?
James has an opportunity to be a voice of conscience in the Republican Party, but he has never aspired to be that. As the most prominent Republican from Detroit of the modern era, James had every chance to make cogent arguments about the failures of the Democratic Party in the city. He could have criticized the Republican Party and its policies, which haven’t earned much support from urban voters. But he has never been a torchbearer of principled politics.
James is not a Republican in the mold of the former respected General Colin Powell, who had tremendous crossover appeal and was willing to chastise his own party on principle — and yet support some of its policies.
James is a Trump Republican who will do whatever the leader of the party wants. The GOP gubernatorial race is begging for conscientious candidates with courage and political integrity who are not willing to roll for those who control the levers of power in Washington.
It seems as if the current candidates vying for the party’s nomination are trying to outdo each other to show deference and extreme obedience to Trump. That is why they were not bold enough to oppose Trump’s proposal to send in the National Guard to Detroit. They can’t afford to offend the president.
Maybe James can redeem himself by explaining on the campaign trail where the GOP has missed the mark under Trump, and what it could do better to regain trust beyond its own base.
But I’m not holding my breath.
@BankoleDetNews
Bankole Thompson’s columns appear on Mondays and Thursdays in The Detroit News.
