Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg defended President Joe Biden’s plan to join members of the United Auto Workers union next week in solidarity with their strike from Detroit's Big Three automakers.
Former President Donald Trump attacked Biden after the president announced his plan to visit Michigan to talk to striking autoworkers on Tuesday, one day before Trump’s previously scheduled trip.
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“Crooked Joe Biden had no intention of going to visit the United Autoworkers, until I announced that I would be heading to Michigan to be with them,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday. “If the UAW ‘leadership’ doesn’t ENDORSE me, and if I don’t win the Election, the Autoworkers are ‘toast,’ with our great truckers to follow.”
Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller also asserted in a statement on Friday that the "only reason" Biden is going to Michigan to join the strikers is because of Trump's plan to visit the state on Wednesday.
Buttigieg emphasized that Biden has always stood with American workers, rebuking the Trump team’s claim that Biden is meeting with UAW strikers in response to Trump announcing his separate visit.
“He is proud of being the most pro-union, pro-worker president, not only compared to the Trump administration with its anti-union policies, but really compared to any modern president, you're not going to find somebody who has more consistently stood with unions,” Buttigieg said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
Biden announced his plans to “join the picket line” with UAW strikers on Sept. 22, in an effort to uphold his self-proclaimed status as the most pro-labor president.
“Tuesday, I’ll go to Michigan to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of UAW as they fight for a fair share of the value they helped create. It’s time for a win-win agreement that keeps American auto manufacturing thriving with well-paid UAW jobs,” Biden said in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Earlier this year, Biden received endorsements from several of the most prominent unions in the country, including The American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, AFL-CIO, County and Municipal Employees. However, Biden has yet to secure an endorsement from the UAW amid his efforts to support employees during the strike as it expands.
Trump confirmed he would be missing the second Republican primary debate in California for the Michigan visit. The former president did not attend the first GOP primary debate either, citing his high poll numbers.
The former president took aim at the Biden administration's electric vehicle policy, claiming the push is responsible for the UAW strike. Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that “Within 3 years, all of these cars will be made in China.”
The Biden administration has created a record number of policies to incentivize a transition to electric vehicles, which Buttigieg emphasized is “going to happen no matter what” in the automotive industry.
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“Now having said that, it's also the case that these auto companies can thrive in a win-win deal that does what the president has called for, which is to say that record profits should lead to record pay and record benefits for the workers who are creating all that value,” Buttigieg said.
“And as the auto industry, the global auto industry, moves into the EV future, which just to be clear is going to happen no matter what, our goal and certainly the UAW is to make sure that that is a made-in-America easy future where American workers thrive,” Buttigieg said.