This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 13 episode of “Alex Wagner Tonight.”
On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held his first solo campaign event since joining the Democratic ticket. Walz addressed one of the country’s largest public sector unions, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
For years now, unions have been big fans of Walz.
For years now, unions have been big fans of Walz. As governor of Minnesota, he banned noncompete agreements and guaranteed paid sick days for workers. He made it so companies can’t force workers to attend meetings where they argue against unionizing. The guy has even joined picket lines.
The reason I bring all of this up is because it stands in sharp contrast to how the other side of this race thinks about labor.
On Monday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sat for a livestreamed interview with the billionaire owner of Tesla and the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Elon Musk. In the past few years alone, Musk has fired nearly 80% of Twitter’s workforce. He’s also been found liable in court for illegally firing a Tesla worker who was trying to form a union.
During his conversation with Musk, Trump offered his take on those job cuts, calling Musk “the greatest cutter.”
During his conversation with Musk, Trump offered his take on those job cuts, calling Musk “the greatest cutter.”
“I mean, I look at what you do, you walk in and you just say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike — I won’t mention the name of the company — but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone.’”
On Tuesday, the United Auto Workers union filed federal labor charges against Trump and Musk for that statement. The group’s president put out a statement that said, bluntly, “When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean.”
The United Auto Workers has already endorsed Harris. With their backing — and the backing of other labor organizations like the UAW — the Harris-Walz campaign may just be able to buttress the "blue wall" and win in November.
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