Skips second GOP debate to give speech at non-union Michigan auto parts shop

Trump skipped the second Republican presidential debate in California to deliver counter-programming in Detroit, one day after President Biden became the first sitting president to walk a union picket line with striking UAW workers. Trump spoke at a non-union auto parts supplier (Drake Enterprises), not with actual striking workers. He urged UAW members to endorse him while simultaneously claiming their strike 'doesn't matter' because electric vehicles would eliminate their jobs anyway—a message undercutting their leverage.

"You're all going to be out of a job... because all of those jobs are going to be gone." — Remarks about EV shift eliminating auto jobs, Drake Enterprises, Michigan, Sept 27, 2023