(The Guardian) Republican senator JD Vance of Ohio has issued a letter to White House advisor Gene Sperling who president Joe Biden dispatched to Detroit as part of the White House’s liaising efforts in the negotiations.
Vance, who said in a separate press statement that he supports the UAW’s demands for higher wages, told Sperling that his involvement “deserves further scrutiny”.
Vance accused Sperling of seeking political gain by steering the strikes in traditionally Republican states, saying: The UAW’s planned strikes have targeted just three plants, including two in the deeply Republican states of Ohio and Missouri. Only one strike affects Michigan, where the bulk of UAW members live and work. This pattern seems hardly coincidental.
A major, multi-plant strike in Michigan could be costly to one of the president’s closest gubernatorial allies. It might create economic reverberations across a state that Donald Trump won in 2016. Perhaps these are mere coincidences, but your involvement supplies a different explanation and raises questions about the work President Biden enlisted you to do. It is unclear whether your purpose was to facilitate negotiations and avert a strike or to shield President Biden’s policies from scrutiny and protect his and Democrats’ political fortunes.”
He went on to accuse Sperling of exploiting the “UAW to protect your boss at the expense of American workers”.
Vance, who said in a separate press statement that he supports the UAW’s demands for higher wages, told Sperling that his involvement “deserves further scrutiny”.
Vance accused Sperling of seeking political gain by steering the strikes in traditionally Republican states, saying: The UAW’s planned strikes have targeted just three plants, including two in the deeply Republican states of Ohio and Missouri. Only one strike affects Michigan, where the bulk of UAW members live and work. This pattern seems hardly coincidental.
A major, multi-plant strike in Michigan could be costly to one of the president’s closest gubernatorial allies. It might create economic reverberations across a state that Donald Trump won in 2016. Perhaps these are mere coincidences, but your involvement supplies a different explanation and raises questions about the work President Biden enlisted you to do. It is unclear whether your purpose was to facilitate negotiations and avert a strike or to shield President Biden’s policies from scrutiny and protect his and Democrats’ political fortunes.”
He went on to accuse Sperling of exploiting the “UAW to protect your boss at the expense of American workers”.
