WASHINGTON — Joe Biden is making history today as the first modern U.S. president to visit a picket line -- a big-stakes play for blue-collar votes with implications for Canada.
Biden, an avowedly pro-union president, is in Michigan to commiserate with striking members of the United Auto Workers.
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But it's not just about supporting union workers -- the visit is also about defending his all-in strategy on making electric vehicles a cornerstone of U.S. manufacturing.
Donald Trump, Biden's presumptive Republican rival, will be in the state Wednesday to attack that strategy as a looming catastrophe for the auto industry.
It could become a pivotal question in the 2024 election with deep ramifications for Canada's auto sector, which is tightly integrated with U.S. manufacturers.
Eric Miller, president of the D.C.-based Rideau Potomac Strategy Group, says automakers themselves are likely too invested in EVs to reverse course now.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2023.
