The candidates focused their criticism on President Biden and the striking union members.
The first question during Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate focused on the United Auto Workers strike against the country’s Big Three automakers.
The candidates directed their criticism at President Biden and the striking union members, with little to no mention of former president Donald Trump — who skipped the debate in favor of making a pitch to working-class Americans. Biden made history Tuesday when he became the first sitting president who has joined a picket line as he attempted to make good on a promise to be “the most pro-union president in history.”
On the debate stage Wednesday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) was asked about his vocal opposition to unions and what he made of Biden’s visit to the picket line.
The senator has condemned the UAW more forcefully than other Republican candidates, saying at a campaign event in Iowa earlier this month that President Ronald Reagan was right for firing striking federal air traffic controllers in 1981.
Asked whether he would also fire the thousands of striking autoworkers, Scott said the president “cannot fire anybody in the private sector,” then pivoted to blaming Biden for the conditions that led to the strike.
