Trump campaign touts that he was with autoworkers – while other candidates fielded questions on them
Trump isn’t at the debate, but he’s very clearly on candidates’ minds, with the former president getting direct attacks from Christie, DeSantis, and others for not being present. (Christie’s unforgettable line: “You’re ducking these things... We’re going to call you Donald Duck.”)
But with the opening of the debate so focused on labor and the autoworkers strike, Trump’s campaign is using that ducking as a bragging point, boasting about the fact that Trump is the only one out with autoworkers tonight.
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"Amazing that the first question of the debate is about the UAW strike …at this moment where is @realDonaldTrump? He’s in Michigan …talking to striking workers," senior Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita wrote on X.
However, as ABC News has previously reported, the place Trump spoke at tonight is one of the few non-union auto-parts plants in Michigan, according to AFL-CIO, and very few of those who came to see Trump in Clinton Township, Michigan, Wednesday evening that ABC News spoke with were on actually on strike.
There are a lot of factors at play over this: Trump’s power in being part of the debate narrative while absent, ongoing labor strikes, and where Republicans show solidarity with labor (and the optics of how they do so). And then candidates like Christie add some nicknames to the mix.
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa, and Oren Oppenheim