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Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak Wednesday at a non-union auto-parts maker in Michigan, one day after President Joe Biden joined striking United Auto Workers members on the picket line in the battleground state.
The day of Biden’s unprecedented move by a sitting president in Belleville, Mich. — where, after being invited by the UAW, he spoke to striking General Motors
GM,
workers Tuesday and told them they “deserve a significant raise” — Trump released a statement that said in part: “Joe Biden’s draconian and indefensible Electric Vehicle mandate will annihilate the U.S. auto industry and cost countless thousands of autoworkers their jobs.”
The Trump campaign on Tuesday would not release details of the former president’s upcoming visit to Drake Enterprises, instead referring MarketWatch to a New York Times story that said Trump planned to meet “with plumbers, pipe-fitters, electricians, as well as autoworkers” and deliver “a prime-time speech before current and former union members.”
The company is a non-union manufacturer, the news site Michigan Advance reported, citing information from the Michigan AFL-CIO.
Drake Enterprises did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday, though the manufacturer confirmed on its Facebook page that it would be hosting Trump on Wednesday. “Politics aside, this is a tremendous opportunity to expand name recognition for Drake Enterprises, Inc. and help us to continue living our American Dream of growing our company and expanding our product lines,” the company said in a post Tuesday.
UAW sources said Tuesday that they had not heard of or seen contact between Trump’s campaign and UAW members; that they did not invite Trump; and that they do not consider the former president’s scheduled visit to Michigan as a sign of solidarity with striking auto workers.
Asked to respond, a Trump campaign spokesperson told MarketWatch, “I don’t think they can tell who their members can and can’t meet with.”
Last week, UAW President Shawn Fain released the following statement about Trump’s reported visit to Michigan, which the UAW denies has any connection to the strikes by auto workers: “Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers.”
See: UAW strike brings fight to consumers, worsening car-parts shortages already plaguing the industry
The UAW released a video Wednesday about the impact of auto-plant closures on surrounding communities, including the closure of the GM Lordstown plant in Ohio, which resulted in the loss of thousands of UAW jobs over the past few years. The video mentioned Trump’s inability to stave off auto-plant closures during his presidency despite saying jobs were “all coming back,” a point UAW sources shared ahead of the video’s release. Trump’s spokesperson on Tuesday didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about that criticism.
Also Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee put up billboards in the Detroit area that feature Trump’s face, attack his record on jobs and highlight his comments about the auto industry. One billboard reads: “What happened to the auto industry when Donald Trump was president? Thousands were laid off! Promise broken!”
When reached for comment on the billboard Wednesday, the Trump spokesperson denied the proven claims on the billboards: “None of it is actually true and is in fact Biden’s desperate attempt to gaslight the American people.”
Thousands of auto workers for Ford Motor
F,
Stellantis
STLA,
and GM have been on strike for almost two weeks. The targeted strike began at three manufacturing plants and has since expanded to 38 parts-fulfillment centers in 20 states.
Read next: Why United Auto Workers are fighting to end a two-tier system for wages and benefits
