Trump will skip second GOP debate to deliver speech to strikers

Donald Trump is expected to skip the upcoming debate in the second Republican presidential primary and address a crowd of union workers in Detroit amid the ongoing auto strike, the former president’s advisers said. The New York Times.

The snub comes after Mr. Trump skipped the first Republican debate of the season last month, choosing instead to sit down with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson for an in-depth interview broadcast on X, formerly known as the name of Twitter.

The former president, who is well ahead of the Republican pack in the polls, downplayed the importance of the debates.

“The public knows who I am and what a successful presidency I have had, with energy independence, strong borders and a strong military, the biggest tax cuts and regulations ever, no inflation, the fastest growing economy. strongest in history and much more,” he wrote on Truth Social in August. “SO I DON’T DO THE DEBATES!”

The lack of presence in the debates had no impact on his status as favorite.

A national average of polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight shows Mr. Trump has more than four times the support of his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, with a projected 55.5% support among Republican voters.

The union’s speech could be an attempt to further withdraw support from blue-collar workers, a traditional bloc of support for Democrats.

Nearly 150,000 auto workers represented by the United Autoworkers union went on strike last week, accusing the “Big Three” Detroit automakers of failing to offer wage increases that kept pace with wages. of managers and company profits.

“For the last 40 years, the billionaire class has taken everything and left everyone else to fight for the scraps,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a speech last week. “We are not the problem. The problem is corporate greed.

After the 2008 financial crisis, Detroit automakers underwent a major restructuring as part of the federal financial bailout.

Part of this restructuring included major changes to working conditions, including a two-tier pay scale based on seniority, an increase in the number of temporary workers and the end of defined benefit pensions – all problems that the union hopes to resolve with its set of demands. .

“Part of what’s motivating (wage increases) is workers’ interest in sharing in the success the company has had, and participating in it in a way that seems commensurate with the way the company’s leaders the company shared in this success. Sharon Block, executive director of the Center for Work and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School, told Vox. “When you think of it as an increase that represents a fair share of the profits of three very profitable companies in recent times, it may seem different.”