Trump says UAW president should be 'fired immediately'
Union fires back after Trump says UAW President Shawn Fain should be let go
Trump receives a standing ovation at the RNC
Republican National Convention attendees applaud as former President Trump makes an appearance following the assassination attempt against him.
Former President Trump said Thursday during his Republican National Convention address that United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain should be "fired immediately."
"Right now as we speak, large factories, just started, are being built across the border in Mexico," Trump said during his speech at the RNC, where he was officially named the GOP's presidential nominee for 2024. "So, with all the other things happening on our border – and they're being built by China to make cars and to sell them into our country, no tax, no anything. The United Auto Workers ought to be ashamed for allowing this to happen."
"And the leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately," Trump continued, "And every single autoworker, union and non-union, should be voting for Donald Trump because we're going to bring back car manufacturing, and we're gonna bring it back fast."
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Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump speaks on Day 4 of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024. (Reuters/Jeenah Moon / Reuters)
The UAW, which earlier this year endorsed presumptive Democratic nominee President Biden for president, fired back in a post on X, saying Trump "is a scab and a billionaire and that's who he represents."
"We know which side we're on," the union's post reads. "Not his."
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The union's post echoed previous comments Fain made about Trump. When endorsing Biden in January, Fain blasted the former president, saying he "doesn't care about the American worker."
In a statement to FOX Business on Friday, Fain reiterated those sentiments.
"Last night, Donald Trump once again attacked our union on a national stage," Fain said. "That should tell you everything you need to know about the man, and the candidate. As we’ve said for many months, he stands for everything we stand against."
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), speaks to the crowd during a UAW rally in Detroit, Michigan, on Sept. 15, 2023. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Trump previously sought the UAW's endorsement, but Fain refused to meet with the former president, telling CNN during the union's strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis last fall, "I see no point in meeting with [Trump] because I don’t think the man has any bit of care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for. He serves a billionaire class, and that’s what’s wrong with this country."
Biden, at Fain's invitation, joined striking UAW members on a picket line during the strike, becoming the first sitting president to do so. Around the same time, Trump held a rally to speak to autoworkers in Michigan.
President Biden addresses striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union at a picket line outside a General Motors Service Parts Operations plant in Belleville, Michigan, on Sept. 26, 2023. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Biden has repeatedly touted himself as "the most pro-union president in American history," but that has not deterred Trump from seeking union members' votes.
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Teamsters President Sean O’Brien accepted Trump's invitation to speak at the RNC this week, an unusual move for a GOP candidate to host a left-leaning organization.
The Teamsters have so far remained neutral in the presidential race, drawing ire from some in organized labor. O'Brien emphasized in his speech at the RNC that "Teamsters are here to say we are not beholden to anyone or any party."