Supporters at a Trump rally in Detroit held by Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance appeared wearing T-shirts stating “Auto Workers for Trump,” but later admitted they were not autoworkers.
More than a dozen at the event Tuesday were wearing the shirts, but six told The Detroit News that they were not from the industry.
“Auto Workers for Trump 2024” began as a countermovement to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris, but the group’s support of the former president stretches back to just before the 2016 election.
Republican vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance speaks at a campaign event at Eastern Market on Tuesday in Detroit. Some supporters pictured behind him can be seen wearing the “Auto Workers for Trump” T-shirts. But six of them said they were not autoworkers.
AP Photo/Paul Sancya
Brian Pannebecker, who started the pro-Trump group, gave spectators the shirts to wear on Tuesday while Vance spoke at Detroit’s Eastern Market Shed 3.
Pannebecker told Newsweek Tuesday evening that he had asked between 30-40 auto workers, both active and retired, if they would like to attend the event to show support for the Republicans’ “pro-American worker policies”.
“A couple of the active auto workers said they had to work and couldn’t get off, and asked if their spouse could have a seat in their place,” he explained in a written statement.
“Of course, I said yes, because these families deserve the opportunity to show their support for the candidates who understand what needs to be done to save Detroit’s auto motive industry and our economy.”
Vance told the crowd that he and GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump were not planning on pulling funding from the federal government directed at car manufacturing in Michigan, although he said the $500 million given to the General Motors plant there was “table scraps.” The senator also promised to be an “ally” to autoworkers in the city if Trump gets elected as president for a second term.
Despite the UAW endorsing Harris in July, shortly after she accepted the nomination from President Joe Biden, her rival has shown strong polling among working-class voters.
Harry Enten, analyst and host of CNN‘s Margins of Error podcast, this month said that Trump is on track for the best Republican performance among union voters in 40 years.
Enten said Trump was polling ahead of Harris by 31 points among voters who graduated from vocational and trade schools. The Harris-Walz campaign has mostly focused on creating a strong middle class.
Michigan has been a key focal point for both campaigns, as the parties fight for one of seven crucial swing states. In 2020, when the Wolverine State had 16 Electoral College votes, Biden won it with 50.6 percent of support. Due to census changes, Michigan will have 15 electoral votes for the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Polling out Tuesday showed Harris narrowly ahead of Trump in Michigan, where just a few days ago the Republican was leading. As in many polls across the 2024 election, the candidates have alternated as the favorite in key states.
For Trump, winning in Michigan would ease some of the pressure on winning North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania—three other battleground states, with 51 total votes, which could be enough to push him over the 270 Electoral College finish line.
