During his recent visit to Ohio, 2020 Democratic hopeful Beto O’Rourke slammed President Donald Trump for his criticisms of Lordstown union leader David Green.
Green is president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which represents the workers at Lordstown’s General Motors plant. After the plant was unallocated earlier this month, Trump said Green “ought to get his act together and produce.”
“The president with his actions has added insult to injury,” O’Rourke told NBC in a recent interview after meeting one-on-one with Green. “Not only has he done nothing to prevent this job loss, he actually blames the workers and their leadership in the UAW president here in 1112 for something GM and his administration caused.”
O’Rourke went on to suggest that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act “financed GM’s ability” to “move jobs elsewhere” and to “choose their shareholders over the community that has created their value.”
“Not only has President Trump failed in his commitment and failed this town of Lordstown, he’s also done nothing to reverse the losses that we’ve seen here,” O’Rourke continued.
O’Rourke said, as president, he would make sure the country’s “trade policies and our tax code” don’t “incentivize offshoring these jobs.”
“GM pays lower taxes on the cars that they’re importing here than the cars that are made here,” he said, noting that he would make “tax cuts conditional on the benefits flowing to communities and to workers.”
“You have one of the most skilled, qualified, highly-trained, hardest-working workforces in the country in this community. GM would be very lucky to make its cars and the rest of its lines here,” he continued. “Perhaps there are other auto manufacturers who could locate a plant here. The investment’s been made, the workforce is here, this community is ready. It’s just lacking in leadership at the highest levels of power.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Beto O’Rourke” By Beto O’Rourke. Background Photo “Lordstown Complex” by Lordstown Assembly.
