3 Questions for Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell about the UAW strike, Trump and working-class voters

Alexander Nazaryan
Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: U.S House of Representatives via Reuters, Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: U.S House of Representatives via Reuters, Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Rep. Debbie Dingell is a veteran of Michigan politics and, as a leading Democrat in the House of Representatives, she is always concerned that her party is not taking seriously enough Midwestern voters and the issues that matter to them.

On Wednesday, she spoke to Yahoo News in advance of former President Donald Trump’s visit to an automotive parts dealer outside Detroit. Trump’s trip there coincides with the second Republican primary debate; it also comes a day after President Biden joined striking United Auto Workers members on the picket line in a show of solidarity.

President Biden is greeted by Rep. Debbie Dingell, center, Shawn Fain, top left, president of the United Auto Workers, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, lower left
President Biden is greeted by Rep. Debbie Dingell, center, Shawn Fain, top left, president of the United Auto Workers, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, lower left, at the airport in Romulus, Mich., Sept. 26. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) (Evelyn Hockstein / reuters)

Yahoo News: You famously warned the Democratic candidate in 2016, Hillary Clinton, that she needed to devote more time to the Upper Midwest, and Trump went on to carry many of those key swing states. Are you concerned that this time around, with a reinvigorated Trump, that danger could return?

U.S. President Joe Biden joins striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on the picket line outside the GM's Willow Run Distribution Center, in Belleville, Wayne County, Michigan, U.S., September 26, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
U.S. President Joe Biden joins striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) on the picket line outside the GM's Willow Run Distribution Center, in Belleville, Wayne County, Michigan, U.S., September 26, 2023. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) (Evelyn Hockstein / reuters)

Dingell: I want to be really clear: Michigan is not a blue state, contrary to what everybody thinks. We are a purple state.

President Trump is very good at understanding people’s concerns and anxieties. He uses wedge issues. This is a man who is all words, no action. He is not going to fight for union workers.

Read more on Yahoo News: In UAW strike, Trump pretends to support workers. He's used to stabbing them in the back. (Opinion), from USA Today

Could President Biden, by accelerating and emphasizing the transition to electrical vehicles, pay a political price, even if that transition is an inevitability?

Donald Trump, second from right
President Donald Trump, second from right, gets a demonstration of an electric pickup truck on the South Lawn of the White House, Sept. 28, 2020. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) (Carlos Barria / reuters)

We got to do a better job of standing up and talking about why it matters. We have to make sure that the federal dollars that were invested in that transition are getting to the workers. We have to make sure that the workers are being taken care of.

We just have to make sure we are telling our story and not letting fearmongering win.

Words, not actions.

The president knows this.

Read more on Yahoo News: Biden addresses UAW concerns amid EV transition, from Politico

Union leadership supports President Biden. But is the cultural appeal of Trump more persuasive to the rank and file?

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, with President Biden and striking autoworkers at the GM Willow Run Distribution Center in Belleville, Mich.
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, with President Biden and striking autoworkers at the GM Willow Run Distribution Center in Belleville, Mich., on Tuesday. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters) (Evelyn Hockstein / reuters)

I don't lie. People know I'm in union halls. We have to communicate with workers. They need to know we're fighting for them.

I don't just go to union halls because suddenly there's a strike and there might be a camera around. I sit with these workers all the time. I want them to know that somebody cares about them. And when they see Joe Biden like they did yesterday, they know that he really does stand with them.

But this isn't going to be a slam dunk.

Read more on Yahoo News: Biden urges striking auto workers to 'stick with it' in picket line visit unparalleled in history, from Associated Press

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