The Presidential Politics of the Autoworkers’ Strike

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 September 2023

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

Although one major strike, against Hollywood studios, was finally resolved this past week, another, against U.S. vehicle makers, is expanding. The plight of the autoworkers has now become a major point of contention in the presidential race. Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The Times, explains why the strike could be an essential test along the road to the White House. Guest: Jonathan Weisman, a political correspondent for The New York Times.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro.
0:04.8	This is a Daily.
0:11.8	Yesterday on the show, we explained how a major strike against Hollywood studios has finally
0:16.6	been resolved.
0:18.0	But another major strike against U.S. automakers is expanding and is now becoming a flashpoint
0:24.7	in the presidential race.
0:26.3	Former President Donald Trump will skip the second Republican primary debate, according
0:30.8	to the New York Times, the former President plans to travel to Detroit where he will give
0:34.7	a speech to over 500 current and former members of the United Auto Workers Union.
0:40.1	President Biden today inserted himself in a labor dispute in a way no other modern
0:44.7	President has, joining striking auto workers on the picket line outside of GM Plant near Detroit.
0:52.9	Today, my colleague Jonathan Weisman, on why President Biden and former President Trump
0:59.2	see the workers involved in this strike as so essential to winning the White House and
1:05.2	the profoundly different strategies that they're relying on to win them over.
1:22.6	But it's his policies that send Michigan auto workers to the unemployment line.
1:33.2	It's Thursday, September 28th.
1:41.3	Jonathan, it is very rare for a labor strike to attract both a sitting President,
1:49.4	Joe Biden and his leading rival for the presidency, in this case, former President Donald Trump
1:55.8	to the place where they are holding a strike. Yet here we are. So how do you think about that?
2:03.2	We're at such an unprecedented moment. First of all, the United Auto Workers are on strike
2:08.9	against all three of the big three, that is for General Motors and Stellantis, which we used to
2:15.9	call Chrysler. This is the broadest strike we've seen in decades. Right now, there are picket lines
	...

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