United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Tuesday he sees "no point" in meeting with Donald Trump when the former president visits the Detroit area on Wednesday, saying Trump "serves the billionaire class and that's what's wrong with this country."
Fain made the comments in an interview with CNN, the same day that President Joe Biden joined the striking UAW workers on the picket line in Belleville, Michigan.
Trump is skipping the second GOP presidential debate Wednesday night to meet with a group of mostly retired UAW workers in Macomb County — at a nonunion plant.
That did not go unnoticed by Fain.
"I find a pathetic irony that the former president is gonna hold a rally for union members at a non-union business," Fain said.
He was then asked if he plans on meeting with Trump on Wednesday.
"I see no point in meeting with him because I don't think the man has any care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for," Fain said. "He serves the billionaire class, and that's what's wrong with this country."
Fain was asked if that was an endorsement for Biden.
"It's not an endorsement for anyone," Fain said. "It's just flat-out how I view the former president."
Trump released a statement earlier Tuesday in support of the striking workers, taking at aim at Biden's support for building more electric vehicles.
"Joe Biden's draconian and indefensible Electric Vehicle mandate will annihilate the U.S. auto industry and cost countless thousands of autoworkers their jobs," Trump said. "The only thing Biden could say today that would help the striking autoworkers is to announce the immediate termination of his ridiculous mandate.
"Anything else is just a feeble and insulting attempt to distract American labor from this vicious Biden betrayal."
Fain was asked if he agreed with Trump that electric vehicles pose a threat to UAW workers.
"It doesn't if it's a just transition. It doesn't if the companies do the right thing," Fain said.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.