Kwame Kilpatrick to speak at Oakland County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner

NOVI (WWJ) -- It may come as a surprise to hear about a special guest who's set to speak at the Oakland County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner, one week from today.

WWJ's Ryan Wrecker reports the person who will introduce keynote speaker Dr. Ben Carson is former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — a longtime Democrat with a controversial past to say the least.

But Vance Patrick, Chair of the Oakland County Republican Party, says the ex-mayor, a convicted felon, changed while he was in prison on racketeering and other charges.

"He had the revelation of seeing God and said: Listen, this is where I'm going to now, I'm cleaning up my life. I'm going in a different direction," Patrick said. "And that's why we're so passionate about having him here today. He realizes that Donald Trump is the guy that's here to fix the United States."

Kilpatrick was convicted on conspiracy, extortion and other corruption-related charges in 2013. He served eight years in federal prison on a 28-year sentence before his sentence was commuted by then-President Donald Trump in January of 2021.

"When Kwame Kilpatrick came out of prison — I was at an event with him a couple weeks ago — he said: Listen people, this not my Democrat party. When I went to prison ten years ago, versus the one we see today, this is not my Democrat party, and I stand with Donald Trump," Patrick said.

That Carson will keynote the event is less of a surprise, as he served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Trump Administration.

Patrick told Wrecker he's looking forward to hearing from both of these speakers.

"I think that by bringing Kwame and Dr. Ben Carson in here, we're reaching for a bigger audience," Patrick said. "And we realize that it's going to take all voters to come across the finish line for Donald Trump in the fall."

The Lincoln Day Dinner, a key fundraiser for the GOP in Oakland County, is set for next Wednesday, Aug. 21, in Novi.

Kilpatrick was mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008.