Watch: UAW President Shawn Fain’s full remarks at the DNC convention
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union, wore a T-shirt that read “Trump is a strikebreaker” at the Democratic National Convention in support of Kamala Harris.
WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris will spend Labor Day campaigning in Detroit and then travel to Pittsburgh with President Joe Biden to demonstrate support for unions in key Rust Belt states as part of the campaign.
Harris’ stop with Biden next Monday in Pittsburgh will be their first joint campaign appearance since Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee.
Meanwhile, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will campaign in Milwaukee on Labor Day, covering the three so-called “blue wall” states – Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – that could decide the 2024 election.
More: Donald Trump says he will attend the September 10 debate after expressing doubts
The Harris campaign did not provide further details about the visits, but said the campaign will target seven key swing states where there will be Labor Day parades and meetings with local union members. Other hotly contested swing states include Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina.
Labor Day is generally considered the unofficial start of the home stretch of a presidential election, when millions of voters begin to get involved in the campaign. In some states, mail-in ballots are sent to voters as early as the end of September, before Election Day on November 5.
Before Biden dropped out of the election on July 21, he trailed former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. But now, according to the average of Real Clear Politics polls, Harris is narrowly ahead in Michigan and Wisconsin, while Pennsylvania is virtually tied.
More: More than 200 former Bush, McCain and Romney candidates support Harris as presidential candidate, criticize Trump
Harris has secured the support of the United Auto Workers union, which has a strong presence in Michigan, and the United Steelworkers, which dominates western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh.
And yet, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 – despite Clinton’s support from union leaders – he was able to win significant support among union members in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, helping him to win in those states.
Biden was able to win back some of these key voters in the 2020 election, winning back Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan for the Democrats. Harris now wants to repeat that effort.
The biggest union missing from Harris’ campaign is the Teamsters, which has so far refused to endorse Harris or Trump. Teamsters President Sean O’Brien made an unusual appeal to Republicans at the Republican National Convention last month, drawing criticism from many Democrats.
Biden and Harris appeared together in Largo, Maryland, on Aug. 15 at an event touting their administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices, but the visit was billed as an official White House visit, not a campaign appearance. Harris also came onstage to hug Biden after he delivered what amounted to a farewell speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week.
While Harris presents herself as a forward-looking candidate, the Trump campaign team is trying to link Harris to Biden’s poor approval ratings, particularly his poor record on economic and inflation policy.
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
