President Joe Biden and his administration’s policies are to blame for the United Auto Workers (UAW) union going on strike, the seven participating Republican presidential candidates argued during the second GOP primary debate.
The debate followed one day after President Biden visited a picket line in Michigan and stood in solidarity with the autoworkers, agreeing that they should receive a 40 percent pay increase. However, the GOP White House hopefuls thought that President Biden should have refrained from joining the picket line.
“Joe Biden doesn’t belong on the picket line,” former Vice President Mike Pence said. “He belongs on the unemployment line.”
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who recently faced criticism for suggesting that the striking autoworkers should be fired, thought President Biden would be more productive if he visited the southern border.
Mr. Scott also took a shot at legislation endorsed by President Biden that allocates $86 billion for union pensions, slamming Democrats for continuing to “overpromise yet underdeliver.” Mr. Scott lambasted the UAW’s demands, including a 32-hour work week with full pay.
“We must make sure that we honor the commitments that we make, and one of the ways that we do that: Do not overpromise and underdeliver and leave the taxpayers on the hook,” Mr. Scott told the Fox debate moderators.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy claimed that he stands on the side of workers but not union leadership, noting that UAW members should be picketing in front of the White House because of the current administration’s economic policies.
“That’s really where the protests need to be,” he said.
“Disastrous economic policies that have driven up prices, that have driven up interest rates and mortgage rates. At the same time, wages remain stagnant. We need to deliver economic growth in this country.”
Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley echoed that point, arguing that the Big Three autoworkers are demanding higher pay because of President Biden’s spending that has fueled rampant price inflation, from soaring gas prices to ballooning grocery bills.
A couple of the candidates centered their criticisms on President Biden’s intervention in the private sector, citing his push for electric vehicles and the broader Green New Deal agenda.
“Joe Biden’s Green New Deal agenda is good for Beijing, bad for Detroit,” Mr. Pence said, noting that mandates and subsidies are driving the U.S. gasoline, automotive, and manufacturing sectors “into the graveyard.”
Federal intervention in capital markets and taxpayer-funded subsidies for EV manufacturing are the real story behind the UAW strike, according to North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
“That’s why they’re striking, because they need two-thirds less workers to build an electric car,” Mr. Burgum said. “This strike is at Joe Biden’s feet.”
Trump Skips GOP Debate
Former President Donald Trump skipped the second GOP debate, drawing the ire of some of his primary challengers. Instead, he held a rally at a nonunion auto parts company in a northern suburb of Detroit, railing against foreign trade agreements that hurt the auto industry and the Democrats advancing sales mandates for electric automobiles.
The Republican front-runner targeted the incumbent, telling the crowd that, despite claiming to be the most pro-union president in U.S. history, “his entire career has been an act of economic treason and union destruction.”
He urged the strikers to get their UAW leaders to instead endorse his 2024 campaign.
“I'll take care of the rest,” he said.
Many of the Republican candidates weren’t pleased that former President Trump failed to show up for the debate.
“Donald Trump is missing in action,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record.”
UAW President Shawn Fain hasn’t endorsed President Biden’s reelection campaign nor has he lent his support to President Trump. While Mr. Fain has accepted President Biden’s support, he has slammed former President Trump on multiple occasions.
“I find a pathetic irony that the former president is going to hold a rally for union members at a nonunion business,” Mr. Fain said in an interview with CNN on Sept. 27. “All you have to do is look at his track record—his track record speaks for itself.”
Mr. Fain is scheduled to deliver an address on Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. Washington time on the latest updates to the strike situation.
