Former President Donald Trump appeared to applaud President Joe Biden’s decision to stand with the United Auto Workers (UAW) next week, claiming the president would never have agreed to join the picket had Trump not planned to visit the union line members.
UAW President Shawn Fain called on Biden earlier Friday to come out in support of the union as it plans to expand its strike against the nation’s Big Three automakers next week. Fain announced during a Facebook Live meeting that an additional 5,600 UAW members from 20 states will participate in the strike that began last week. The expanded strike will only target GM and Stellantis – Fein said talks with Ford have progressed and the automaker will be protected from additional strikes.
A few hours later, Biden Announce He will join UAW members in Michigan on Tuesday “to stand with the men and women of the UAW and fight for their fair share of the value they helped create.” The consensus among historians is that this may mark the first time in U.S. history There are presidents who decide to join the pickets.
“Now is the time for a win-win deal that allows American auto manufacturing to thrive with good-paying UAW jobs,” Biden wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Saul Loeb, Getty/KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP, Photo: Getty
Trump’s senior campaign adviser Jason Miller dismissed Biden’s decision in a statement Friday night, calling it “nothing more than a cheap photo op,” adding that “Biden is traveling to Michigan on Tuesday. The only reason why is because President Trump announced that he will be going on Wednesday.”
“If President Trump had said nothing, Biden would have given UAW workers in Michigan the ‘East Palestine treatment,'” Miller’s statement read. Weekly newspaper.
After a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in eastern Ohio in early February, Trump visited East Palestine before Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had a chance to meet with affected communities. Biden has yet to visit.
Trump also posted on his Truth Social account in response to Biden’s plan to stand with the United Auto Workers, saying the auto industry was “thrown in” by the White House’s push for electric vehicles (EVs) and green emissions rates. sewer”. The former president has repeatedly claimed that switching to electric vehicles would be devastating for autoworkers and truck drivers. However, Fein has previously praised the Biden administration’s efforts.
The UAW, which represents more than 150,000 auto workers in the United States, has not announced its support for the 2024 presidential election. Biden and Trump lead their respective parties ahead of the primaries. In 2020, unions expressed support for Biden.
Trump plans to meet with members of the United Auto Workers in Detroit, Michigan, on the night of the second Republican primary debate. The former president also made it through the first Republican debate in August.
Fein denounced Trump’s visit earlier this week, writing in a statement Tuesday, “We cannot continue to elect billionaires and millionaires who have no understanding of living paycheck to paycheck and scraping by. feeling and looking to them to solve the problem.” Problems of the working class. “
