Gingrich and Biden on the assembly line: The autoworkers’ strike versus the White House’s response to the president’s announcement
Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the House, says that’s an important distinction. Biden doesn’t have the support of those on the assembly line, even if the union leadership supports him.
Former President Donald Trump, the undisputed front-runner, will not be one of them. He instead will skip the event and travel to Michigan where he plans to court the vote of autoworkers.
When the workers began their strike, Biden promised that he would send the labor secretary and economic adviser to Detroit. The White House claimed that the pair was staying in Washington to continue talks.
“We believe this can be a win-win agreement for all, but we’re not going to litigate the specifics of the negotiation,” she said. “We do not get into the specifics of negotiations.”
Trump bets big on Michigan with rally on GOP debate night as UAW strike continues: A devastating loss for the autoworkers’ union-gop debate
“I think the UAW gave up an incredible amount back when the automobile industry was going under. They gave up everything from their pensions on, and they saved the automobile industry,” Biden said on Monday.
It’s the second debate that Trump is missing, disappointing many Republican voters who have been eager to see how rivals stand up to Trump when they’re side-by-side on the same stage.
Sean Walsh thinks it is an opportunity for the other candidates and Republican voters who want a different candidate.
It gives the other candidates more time to speak about their priorities instead of responding to Trump. Unlike in the first debate in Milwaukee, those who want to differ themselves from the former president are likely to face a sympathetic audience.
Walsh, who served in the administrations of both former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, said the debate on the grounds of Reagan’s presidential library will also be opportunity for the candidates to “win back the hearts and minds of mainstream Republicans” — like him — who feel that Trump can’t beat President Biden.
Michigan voters helped both Trump and Biden win the White House — Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. Those elections were largely clinched with union voters. Biden won those voters by 20 points in 2020. Trump lost those voters overall, but by a much narrower margin, in 2016. He was able to win the state with just over 10,000 votes.
Biden’s Presidency: When the Autoworker Rate Goes Off the Picket Line, Unless he Wins Another Term
The former president has claimed in recent weeks that he will continue to fight for autoworkers if he wins a second term.
The president responded to Biden joining the picket line by saying that there will be no autoworker jobs in three years as they come out of China and other countries.
The president is not expected to join a picket line. He has been successful in courting blue collar workers away from Democrats despite his experience with union labor.