Former President Donald Trump will skip the second GOP presidential debate scheduled for Sept. 27, planning instead to head to Detroit, Michigan, to speak with plumbers, electricians and autoworkers, a senior Trump campaign advisor confirmed to the Daily Caller.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) announced a strike on Thursday against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, Detroit’s biggest automakers, with many employees not showing up to work on Friday. Trump will travel to Detroit to speak to current and former UAW members the night of the second GOP presidential debate, The New York Times first reported Monday. (RELATED: The Biggest Winner Of The Auto Workers Strike Could Be Elon Musk)
Though Trump’s campaign is considering having the president appear at the picket lines, the possibility is unlikely, the NYT reported. Trump skipped the first GOP presidential debate in August, opting instead to be interviewed by Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson.
“We can’t keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don’t have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class,” Shawn Fain, president of the UAW, told the NYT.
United Auto Workers members strike at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant on September 16, 2023 in Wayne, Michigan. This is the first time in history that the UAW is striking all three of the Big Three auto makers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, at the same time. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
The union’s strike began shortly after its contract with automakers expired on Sept. 14. UAW was initially demanding a 46% pay raise over five years and a shortened work week, while being paid for a 40-hour work week.
Though President Joe Biden has proclaimed himself the “most pro-union president ever,” UAW workers are unimpressed by the president’s efforts.
“I think our president is not as strong a president as we need,” Jennifer Banks, a UAW member, told the NYT. “I’m hoping somebody can replace him. I hope it doesn’t leave me no choice but to vote the other way.”