UAW members in Michigan don’t think the union’s endorsement of Biden will sway their pro-Trump peers

Wayne, Michigan CNN —

Walter Robinson Jr. bets about 40% of his Ford Motor Company co-workers are for Donald Trump. He doesn’t get it.

“Donald Trump has never had a real job before,” said Robinson, a 35-year Ford employee who started on the assembly line and now works in quality control. “He’s never come in there and shot six bolts and put in four push pins 600 times a day on the assembly line.”

“He’s never shoveled crap,” Robinson continued. “He’s never done a hard day’s work. Not physical work like you do in the plant. And he has a solid gold toilet at home. So, I mean, how can he really empathize with your life?”

Sometimes Robinson joins the debate along the assembly line or in the break room, pointing out President Joe Biden’s long history of supporting organized labor, including his decision to join striking United Auto Workers on the picket line in Michigan during their six-week strike last year. The UAW endorsed Biden earlier this year.

The retort?

“You, know: guns, gays, abortion, sleepy Joe, Hunter Biden,” Robinson said. “They just tell me these outlandish things that they think are important. … If Hunter Biden is such a big issue, why isn’t Jared Kushner a big issue?”

The autoworkers strike, which ended late last year, was a big win for the UAW. Robinson got a nice raise and cost of living adjustments were restored in the deal. The bigger gains went to less experienced UAW members hired after the 2008 financial crisis, when the automakers said their only path to survival was a two-tier wage and benefits system that paid new workers less.

“I think we got more than I thought we would,” Robinson said in an interview during his lunch break at the UAW Local 900