United Auto Workers union endorses Kamala Harris for president

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union on Wednesday announced its governing board voted to endorse Vice President Harris for president.

“Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. 

“We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris, who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed.” 

“This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box,” Fain added. “For our 1 million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next president this November.”

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The UAW’s endorsement of Harris in the presidential race comes after former President Trump, the Republican nominee, called for autoworkers to support his campaign.

In his speech on the closing night of the Republican National Convention (RNC), Trump said Fain should be “fired immediately” as the UAW’s leader because of potential competition to the U.S. auto industry from plants built in Mexico.

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The UAW endorsed Vice President Harris for president. (Montinique Monroe/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“Right now, as we speak, large factories, just started, are being built across the border in Mexico. So, with all the other things happening on our border — and they’re being built by China to make cars and to sell them into our country, no tax, no anything. The United Auto Workers ought to be ashamed for allowing this to happen,” Trump said.

“And the leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately. And every single autoworker, union and non-union, should be voting for Donald Trump because we’re going to bring back car manufacturing, and we’re gonna bring it back fast.”

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Former President Trump called for Fain to be fired as UAW president during his Republican National Convention speech. (Reuters/Jeenah Moon / Reuters)

Fain responded to Trump’s remarks, releasing a statement to FOX Business the day after the RNC speech. 

“Last night, Donald Trump once again attacked our union on a national stage,” Fain said. “That should tell you everything you need to know about the man and the candidate. As we’ve said for many months, he stands for everything we stand against.”

Trump had previously sought the UAW’s endorsement, but Fain declined to meet with him. 

“I see no point in meeting with [Trump] because I don’t think the man has any bit of care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for,”  Fain told CNN during the union’s strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis last fall. “He serves a billionaire class, and that’s what’s wrong with this country.”

UAW President Shawn Fain endorsed President Biden earlier this year before Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Fain endorsed President Biden in January after Biden became the first sitting president to join striking UAW members on a picket line during last year’s strike.

FOX Business’ Breck Dumas contributed to this report.