Joe Biden and Donald Trump are painting two very different pictures in Michigan this week as they seek to win over autoworkers and other manufacturing workers across the Rust Belt ahead of 2024.
The former president spoke on Tuesday evening in Clinton Township, a day after the incumbent president made history by appearing on a picket line alongside striking members of the United Autoworkers union. But Mr Trump is going after the union vote in a much different manner.
Despite a Trump campaign official promising that the Republican former president would speak to current and former union members upon his arrival, the Mar-a-Lago mogul actually delivered remarks at a non-union plant, with his event reportedly hosted by the National Right to Work Foundation, according to Jacobin magazine. Theoretically, his audience could still be made up partially or fully with union autoworkers, but The Independent did not receive a response to an emailed request for clarification on that matter.
Hours ahead of Mr Trump’s address, counter-programming to the second GOP debate, the Biden campaign launched a new ad attacking the former president for not protecting the manufacturing sector in America. A narrator in the ad accuses Mr Trump of “pass[ing] tax breaks for his rich friends while automakers shuttered their plants and Michigan lost manufacturing jobs”.
The ad hit TV screens on Wednesday, and is set to be shown on Fox Business Network ahead of the 9pm debate hosted by the network, according to CNN.
Mr Trump and Mr Biden both face similar issues of voter trust in the Rust Belt.
A discussion with voters attending Mr Trump’s 2022 rally in Youngstown, Ohio revealed a deep persistent resentment towards corporatist politicians in both parties stemming from economic devastation weathered by the city and surrounding communities following the closure of General Motors’ Lordstown plant in 2019. Mr Trump, two years before GM finally shuttered the plant, urged workers and residents of the city, “don’t move. Don’t sell your house” at a campaign rally. Others blame Democrats who represented the district and state in Congress for the closure.
Whether Mr Trump will embrace striking workers’ call for higher wages and better conditions is unclear. The likelihood of him embracing the union that is making those calls achievable is low.
Republicans have struggled to respond to the outbreak of organised labour activity across America. Some, like Sen Tim Scott, have stuck to the party’s typical pro-business line and called for mass firings to scare workers back into their jobs.
Others, like Mr Trump, are embracing a populist message even if they have shyed away from endorsing the actual means and methods of organised labour.
