The head of the United Auto Workers union says putting Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket increases the Democrats’ chance of winning Michigan and keeping the White House in November
Putting Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket increases the Democrats’ chance of winning Michigan and keeping the White House in November, the head of the United Auto Workers union says.
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Shawn Fain said former President Donald Trump is beholden to billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and would send the labor movement into reverse if he’s elected again.
“Trump has never supported working class people. He has never supported unions“, Fain said. „But he sure as hell was trying to pander for our votes now.”
Fain has become a top nemesis of the Republican presidential nominee, who frequently rails against him at rallies and in speeches. Trump has called him an idiot, courting autoworkers‘ votes by saying Fain is putting their jobs at risk by embracing a move to electric vehicles.
Although the UAW has members across the nation, many auto-making jobs are concentrated in the Great Lakers region and Michigan, a key swing state that could decide the presidential race in November. This week, the UAW endorsed Harris.
Trump and Harris realize that increasing their share of union votes gives them a much better chance of taking Michigan, where the last two presidential elections have been close, said Marick Masters, a business professor emeritus at Wayne State University who follows labor issues.
Trump won the state by just 11,000 votes in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton, and then lost the state four years later by nearly 154,000 votes to President Joe Biden.
Appealing to autoworkers helps to get votes from other union members, and union membership is high in the state at about 556,000, Masters said.
