Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump released a new video attacking President Joe Biden’s environmental policies in a bid to win the endorsement of the powerful auto workers union.
Trump said in the video released Thursday that Biden’s push to transition to electric vehicles has cost auto workers jobs and saddled consumers with higher prices for cars.
“Joe Biden is waging war on the auto industry with a series of crippling mandates, forcing Americans into expensive electric cars,” Trump said. “These extreme left-wing policies are a disaster for families and consumers and are one of the main reasons the average cost of a new car is over $50,000.”
In the video, Trump vowed to undo Biden’s policies if elected and protect American jobs in battleground states and indirectly asked the United Auto Workers for their endorsement.
“By one estimate, Biden’s electric vehicle mandate will slaughter 117,000 US auto-manufacturing jobs with workers in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio among the hardest hit,” Trump said. “I hope United Auto Workers is listening to this because I think you better endorse Trump.”
Read more: Ford to Seek Flexible EV Production in Contract Talks With UAW
Trump’s video comes as the UAW is locked in contentious contract negotiations with the so-called “Big Three” automobile manufacturers: General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV. UAW President Shawn Fain met with Biden and senior White House staff on Wednesday to brief them on those negotiations.
While the UAW endorsed Biden in 2020, the group has yet to back a candidate for 2024.
Auto workers have raised concerns that Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes major subsidies to encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles could threaten union jobs in the auto industry.
The video was released shortly before Biden was set to deliver a speech in Philadelphia touting his economic agenda, in particular policies to encourage clean energy and create jobs for union workers.
Read more: Biden Wants to Run on the Economy, Not Away From It
The president has stepped up his messaging on the economy in recent weeks, crisscrossing the country to tout his “Bidenomics” agenda, highlighting the low unemployment rate and growth in wages under his watch as well as longer-term investments in US manufacturing and infrastructure.
Biden and Democrats say those policies will create more well-paying manufacturing jobs as the president courts middle-class voters in an election where the state of the economy will be paramount.
Trump and Republicans see room to undercut Biden’s labor support. Biden has called himself the most pro-union president in US history, but even as he has secured the backing of major union groups, there has been friction with rank-and-file workers. Biden last year also angered some unions when he signed legislation imposing a deal he helped negotiate between freight railroads and workers.
Trump has been releasing a series of short policy videos to outline what he do if he returns to the Oval Office.
In a fact sheet accompanying the video, the Trump team laid out its policies and promised to roll back the CAFE fuel economy standard, once again exit the Paris Climate Accords and secure USMCA protections for American auto workers.
His team also wants to impose more tariffs, including on any country which places tariffs on American-made good.
