Sean Fain of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union slammed former President Trump on Friday, saying he was beholden to billionaires and “has never supported working class people.”
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Fain highlighted the union’s decision to endorse Vice President Harris and the pivotal role the UAW has played in the presidential campaign over the past year.
“Trump has never stood for working-class people. He’s never stood for unions,” Fain said, “but now he was certainly trying to win our votes.”
Fain initially supported President Biden after Biden joined striking UAW workers on the picket line last year.
The UAW decided to endorse Harris after Biden suspended his campaign. At the rally, Fain said that if elected, Harris would continue to work for working-class Americans, while Trump works for billionaires.
The UAW president has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who blasted Fain during a speech at the Republican National Convention last month and called for him to be fired. The former president said the UAW should be “ashamed” for allowing Fain to support the Democrats.
In an online post, the union said Trump was a “billionaire strikebreaker” and that the union was not on his side.
According to the Associated Press, Fain dismissed Trump’s insults as typical of the former president.
“What a man does [is] “Name-calling, labeling. He doesn’t have the solutions,” Fain said. “That’s the leadership issue. We need to find solutions.”
Fein told the news site he believes Harris will continue to be a voice for workers. Harris stood on picket lines with striking General Motors workers in 2019 and has been with Biden “through a lot of hardship,” Fein said.
“She was there for the birth,” he said, before adding, “I think she’s an incredible woman. A very strong person.”
Fain maintained that Harris understood the issues.
“I think Trump is all talk. He always has been. He’s a showman,” he said.
The Hill reached out to the Trump campaign, which in a statement to The Associated Press called Fein a “puppet of the Democratic Party.”
“Sean Fain’s empty words don’t matter. President Trump will take action to fight for American workers,” the statement said.
The Associated Press contributed.
