By Craig Mauger | The Detroit News
Clinton Township — Republican Donald Trump railed against electric vehicles during a campaign stop in suburban Detroit Wednesday night, saying they’re too expensive, aren’t capable of traveling far enough and would spur job losses for Americans.
Trump, a former president who’s seeking to challenge current Democratic President Joe Biden next year, made the comments during a speech at Drake Enterprises, a parts supplier in Clinton Township. Amid a historic strike by the United Auto Workers against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, Trump said: “Your current negotiations don’t mean as much as you think.”
Trump argued that regardless of the outcome of the strike, the bigger threat to employees was the shift to electric cars and trucks, which he described as a “hit job” on Michigan and Detroit.
“You can be loyal to American labor or you can be loyal to the environmental lunatics,” Trump said at one point. “But you can’t really be loyal to both. It’s one or the other.”
Biden and other Democrats, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have promoted the transition to electric vehicles and sought to compete with other countries to produce them. Whitmer has said switching to electric vehicles will save families money over the lifetime of the vehicles, support tens of thousands of well-paying auto jobs in Michigan and help “safeguard clean air and water for future generations.”
Trump’s speech Wednesday night was about an hour long. He described a future “fueled by American energy” and “built by highly skilled American hands and high-wage American labor.” But his address was short on specifics for how he would accomplish the goals.
Trump’s visit came a day after Biden appeared on a picket line in Wayne County and told members of the United Auto Workers union they deserved a “significant raise.” On Wednesday, Trump said he supported the push for fair wages but added that workers…
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