Trump's electric vehicle attacks hit some Michigan voters

Getty Images

Speaking in Detroit on Thursday, Trump attacked UAW President Shawn Fain for his support of electric vehicles.

A longtime resident of Warren, Michigan, a northern suburb of Detroit, Doug spends part of his days building electric vehicles for Ford as a machine repairman.

But he would never buy one.

A former Democrat and union auto worker, Doug — who declined to share his name for fear of backlash from his union — is exactly the type of Michigan voter Donald Trump is working to recruit and that Kamala Harris can't wait to win back.

With less than a month until Election Day, the former president has stoked fears in the state that Harris wants to ban gas-powered vehicles and that autoworkers could lose their jobs amid electrification cars. The message resonates with Doug and some other Michigan voters who spoke to the BBC.

It could certainly cost us our jobs, and it has already cost a lot of people their jobs, Doug told the BBC on a sunny October day outside a Meijer supermarket in Warren.

Harris pushed back on Trump's rhetoric, telling voters at a rally in Flint, Michigan, last week that her administration would not end gasoline-powered vehicles. The vice president supported phasing out gas-powered cars when she ran for president in 2019, but has since backed away from her support for the policy.

Michigan, let's be clear, she told Flint: Contrary to what my opponent suggests, I will never tell you what kind of car you should drive.

Experts say Trump's criticism of electric vehicles is his Michigan version of a broader economic message as he tries to appeal to voters in this key Midwestern state.

Speaking to a crowd of hundreds at a Detroit Economic Club event Thursday, the former president doubled down on his message, saying United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain wants all electric cars , a decision that Trump said was costing the auto industry its entire business.

This has just become the main message from Republicans: that these plans or hopes to electrify vehicles will destroy the auto industry and kill jobs, said Jonathan Hanson, senior lecturer at the Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy. University of Michigan.

And Harris' challenges to that message haven't resonated with some Michigan voters, who still believe Trump is saying Harris wants a country of all-electric vehicles.

I don't trust them, Warren resident Ruth Zimmer, 82, said of electric cars. I want it to be like it's always been, with a good old fashioned car.

In Michigan on Friday, Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, tried to appeal to electric vehicle skeptics and took aim at Trump's comments on mandates.

It should just be your choice. We need to make these choices affordable and accessible to people, he said. Nobody imposes anything on you. If you want to drive, like me, a 79 International Harvester Scout that's smooth as hell, knock yourself out.

Walz and Trump's visits to the state come as recent polls suggest Harris' support may be waning slightly in this key battleground state. A September Quinnipiac University poll gave Trump a three-point lead in Michigan, after other polls suggested Harris leading by a slim margin over the past month.

Trump's attacks on electric vehicles are also complicated by one of his biggest supporters, billionaire Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, an electric car company. Musk supported Trump and appeared at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last week, cheering him on from behind the podium.

Appealing to the state's autoworker and union demographic — once a staunchly Democratic voting bloc — will prove key for Harris and Trump to narrow the gap in Michigan, experts say.

Trump gathered a number of these voters in the state during his race against Hillary Clinton in 2016, although President Joe Biden won some of their votes in 2020. Nationally, Clinton ended up winning 51% of unionized households, compared to 42% for Trump. in a race she lost in Michigan by some 10,000 votes. Biden won union households 56% to 40%, according to 2020 exit polls.

Some former Democratic union workers in Michigan have become disillusioned with the party as the cost of living has risen. Doug, a Warren resident, added that pressure from his union leaders to stay in line with Democrats had put him off.

You have to be a Democrat or you're totally exiled, Doug said.

Harris, he added, was just President Joe Biden in a nutshell.

The vice president is having a harder time winning over the labor vote than Biden, who has presented himself as the most pro-union president in history. Although Harris and Walz have key union support, they have struggled to gain support from rank-and-file union members.

For the first time in three decades, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters — the nation's largest union — declined to support a presidential candidate, finding that a majority of its rank-and-file members supported Trump.

Ruth Zimmer doesn't trust electric vehicles and fears they will cost jobs

In Michigan, where the auto and transportation industry employs 20% of the workforce, Democrats aren't getting as much credit as they hoped for their investments in electric vehicles in the state, said Matt Grossmann, a politics professor at Michigan State University.

This year, the Biden-Harris administration announced a $1.7 billion ($1.3 billion) investment to convert shuttered and struggling auto plants in Michigan and several other Midwest states to make electric vehicles and parts of their supply chain.

Many in and around the auto industry don't necessarily think it would benefit Michigan, Grossmann said.

Automakers appear broadly supportive of transitioning their fleets to more electric vehicles, Mr. Hanson said, but the transition is costly and requires complementary investments in factories for specialty materials such as batteries.

As part of a nearly $2 billion federal investment, a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, received $500 million to shift production from gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles.

In Detroit, just two days before Trump's arrival, his Republican running mate JD Vance said Lansing's investment was leftovers compared to the job losses that would loom from the shift to vehicles electrical.

Kevin Moore, president of the Michigan Teamsters union, called Trump and Vances' allegations about electric vehicles a blatant lie.

They are not going to get rid of petrol vehicles, he told the BBC. They can coincide together.

His group — and several Teamsters unions in key states — supported Harris for president.

Moore said he believes Michigan workers will not accept Trump's statement that electrification will cost autoworkers their jobs.

They're crafty, he said of autoworkers. Donald Trump was a billionaire fed with a golden spoon. [Harris] lived his life in the American middle class.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99vlpkzk4no The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos