Biden, UAW planning Michigan event for this Thursday

President Joe Biden is planning a visit to Michigan on Thursday as part of an event with the UAW, whose endorsement he received last week, the campaign confirmed in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

No other details about the event — including the site, time or who else would be involved — were immediately available. Earlier Tuesday, two Democratic sources confirmed the visit on condition of anonymity because the event, which was expected to be coordinated by Biden's reelection campaign, hadn't been made public.

The fact that Biden was expected to make the trip indicated a desire on the campaign's part to make the most out of last week's UAW endorsement and underscored recent indications that the president's likely opponent in this year's presidential race, former President Donald Trump, had made inroads with working class voters in Michigan and some other swing states.

Ever since the UAW announced its endorsement of Biden last week, Trump has been publicly sparring with the union's president, Shawn Fain, who has just as gamely fought back with criticism of the former president.

Also last Friday, Biden campaign officials were in southeastern Michigan to meet with leaders of some groups, including the large Arab-American community centered in and around Dearborn, where many voters have been angry about Biden's refusal so far to demand a cease-fire in Israel's war on Hamas following the group's attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7. While some Arab American leaders declined the invitation to meet, some others did not and the campaign also met with Black congregations and Hispanic leaders in southwest Detroit, according to Free Press sources.

It was not known whether any of those leaders or groups would be part of the president's expected visit, which was also reported by the Detroit News and Politico. The latter, on Tuesday afternoon, said a final decision had not yet been made by the White House regarding the visit.

On Jan. 24, Fain announced the labor union's endorsement of Biden while issuing a stinging rebuke of Trump, calling Trump a "scab" and an enemy to working people.

Biden, on the other hand, who has long characterized himself as a car enthusiast and a staunch supporter of labor, was believed to make history last September when he became the first sitting president to walk a picket line, visiting a Wayne County site as the UAW struck all Detroit Three automakers: General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which was formerly Chrysler.

From the beginning of that strike, which was ultimately successful in securing better wages, benefits and job protections for UAW workers facing an industrywide switch to making more electric vehicles, or EVs, Biden had aligned himself with the union cause, saying that record profits for automakers should translate to better wages for autoworkers.

Though Fain and the UAW didn't provide their endorsement of Biden at the time — and held out for some months unlike other major unions, saying whoever received their endorsement must earn it — it ultimately came last week, with Fain calling Trump a member of the "billionaire class" that only seeks to divide workers. He also alluded to the fact that while some union members may want to support Trump or avoid the election altogether, the union should be united behind Biden, given his commitment to workers' rights.

"I know there's some people who want to ignore this election, they don’t want anything to do with politics," he said. "(But) Elections aren’t just about picking … the candidate who makes you feel good. Elections are about power."

Following that speech, Trump — who had visited a nonunion auto plant during the strike, saying little about the UAW's demands for better wages and benefits but saying they meant nothing unless the union leaders demanded the Biden administration abandon an agenda that encouraged, if not mandated, EV adoption — attacked Fain, calling him "a dope."

On Monday on social media, Trump also called Fain "a weapon of mass destruction" on autoworkers. Fain, meanwhile, continued a round of media hits blasting Trump, on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Tuesday criticizing him for passing tax breaks that helped wealthier Americans more than middle-class ones and remaining largely silent during a 2019 strike, "It's a real clear picture," Fain said. "Donald Trump did not stand with working class people."

That working class vote and how it breaks in this year's election could be a key for either candidate in the industrial Midwest and Michigan, specifically, where Trump won the 2016 election by two-tenths of a percentage point and where Biden fought back against the then-incumbent president and won by just under 3 percentage points.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Biden, UAW planning Michigan event for this Thursday