Trump calls GOP debate "boring" as he desperately rallies for autoworkers' endorsement
Clinton Township, Michigan - Donald Trump skipped the second GOP debate and instead spent the day trying to win over autoworkers in Michigan.
Trump gave a speech at Drake Enterprises, a non-unionized auto supplies factory, on Wednesday, where he pleaded to the crowd to "tell your UAW leaders... they have to endorse Trump."
"Hopefully, your leaders at United Auto Workers will endorse Donald Trump because, you know, standard history for years and decades and years and years, years, they always endorse a Democrat," he said. "It's almost like it's an automatic reflex and there's no reason for it."
The former president told the workers, "Your current negotiations don't mean as much as you think," arguing that electric vehicles are the real threat to their jobs. While Trump says he is "all for" electric cars, he thinks we "should not be forcing consumers to buy electric vehicles they don't want to buy."
He also launched countless attacks against President Joe Biden, who made history on Tuesday when he joined the UAW on the picket line in Detroit.
Trump's event has been heavily criticized as he did not directly speak to UAW members, but acted as if he was. According to The Detroit News, some attendees openly admitted they were neither part of the union nor an autoworker.
Donald Trump's campaign reacts to the GOP debates
Following the debate event, the Trump campaign released a statement pleading that "Trump alone can defeat Biden."
"Tonight's GOP debate was as boring and inconsequential as the first debate, and nothing that was said will change the dynamics of the primary contest being dominated by President Trump," wrote campaign Senior Advisor Chris LaCivita.
"The RNC should immediately put an end to any further primary debates, so we can train our fire on Crooked Joe Biden, and quit wasting time and money that could be going to evicting Biden from the White House," he added.
Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for President Biden's campaign, described Trump's Michigan speech "at a non-union factory" as "a pathetic, recycled attempt to feign support for working Americans."
Cover photo: MATTHEW HATCHER/AFP