United Auto Workers endorse Biden; union president calls Trump a 'scab'

President Joe Biden received a key 2024 endorsement on Wednesday from the United Auto Workers, with the union's president using the occasion to savage Biden's likely general election opponent, Donald Trump.

Shawn Fain announced UAW's support for Biden's reelection bid at their biannual conference in Washington, D.C.

«I know there's some people that want to ignore this election,» Fain said. «They don't want to have anything to do with politics. Other people want to argue endlessly about the latest headline or scandal or stupid quote. Elections aren't about just taking your best friend for the job or the candidate who makes you feel good. Elections are about power.»

The backing of the Michigan-based UAW, with more than 400,000 members, could give Biden an edge in a key battleground state that has helped determine the last two political elections. He won Michigan by about 150,000 votes in 2020; Trump won it by about 10,000 votes four years earlier.

Biden also won the group’s endorsement in 2020, and it backed Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016.

But Trump was successful in battlegrounds like Michigan and Ohio in that election cycle in part because of his ability to attract more union support than past GOP candidates: The UAW said at the time it believed one in four of its members likely voted for Trump based on surveys.

«The question is, who do we want in that office to give us the best shot of winning?» Fain said on Wednesday. «Who gives us the best shot of organizing? Who gives us the best shot of negotiating strong contracts? Who gives us the best shot of uniting the working class and winning our fair share once again?»

Biden, who has increasingly been gearing in public to face Trump in the general election, also delivered