Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a member of the progressive faction in the House referred to as the “Squad,” refused to back Vice President Kamala Harris during a Michigan United Auto Workers rally just days ahead of the election.
With union workers forming a critical component of the Democratic base, Tlaib joined Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in rallying supporters in Detroit on Friday evening in a bid to shore up blue party support in the battleground state.
Yet while Jayapal and Ocasio-Cortez urged workers to vote for Harris, Tlaib never mentioned her name. Tlaib has been a vocal critic of the Biden-Harris administration’s support of Israel and its war with Hamas in Gaza. Tlaib’s sister, Layla Elabed, is the co-chair of Michigan’s pro-Palestinian “Uncommitted” movement, which in February staged a massive protest vote against President Joe Biden during the state’s Democratic primary. The group has declined to back Harris ahead of the election.
Following her sister’s move to spurn directly endorsing the vice president, Tlaib instead highlighted the importance of reelecting Democratic candidates down the ballot in the state. The Michigan Democrat particularly threw her weight behind Kimberly Thomas and Kyra Harris Bolden, both candidates for the state’s Supreme Court.
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Referencing the court’s move this year to back raising the minimum wage over the GOP’s protests, Tlaib claimed Republicans “like cheating” as she reminded union workers “it was the Michigan Supreme Court that made that decision. The Michigan Supreme Court said we will have paid sick leave and raised Michigan’s minimum wage because the people spoke and they demanded it happen.”
Stand Up Speak Up Show Up GOTV Rally in Detroit https://t.co/8MhBp9CHK0
— UAW (@UAW) November 1, 2024
As the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress after winning her election in 2018, Tlaib continued to press the importance of turning out to support Democratic candidates for the state house and senate as she argued that “they’re all a barrier against corporate greed.”
“I want you to understand this is so important, and remember the way we make sure that we can fight corporate greed is not only deciding again all the candidates, it’s also making sure every branch we have folks that will protect us,” she said.
Jayapal made a direct pitch for Vice President Kamala Harris, as polls show a tight race between the Democratic presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump in Michigan with just days until the election.
“We got five days, five days to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to be the next President and the Vice President of the United States of America. Five days to make sure we get the gavels back in the House so we can control and pass … a $15 minimum wage, a living wage, and make sure that we continue to invest in people,” she told workers.
Jayapal, who chairs the House Progressive Caucus, continued to express support for the unprecedented UAW workers’ strike last year that ended in the “Big Three” automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, making major concessions to employees.
“We watched those workers stand up in a righteous fight, organize and get a fair contract, and get those big three to share their profits for the first time in a long time. You took on corporate greed, you took on the billionaires, and you inspired organizing across the country,” she said before urging workers to reach more voters.
“Door knocking is the way we make it happen,” Jayapal continued as she hoped that the effort would “ make sure that we elect the next most pro-labor president in history, with Kamala Harris.”
Ocasio-Cortez led perhaps the most fiery speech of the night, sending some harsh words Trump’s way when she told the Michigan crowd that “Detroit will not allow a scab in the White House, not if UAW has anything to do with it.”
She continued to attack the former president’s repeated worries that Detroit is a city in decline.
“We heard it from Trump saying, ‘Oh, we want what’s gonna happen the world’s gonna be like Detroit,’” she said. “Hell yeah. Hell yeah, that’s right. I would love to be like a place that has that is home to the strongest, most fighting union in the United States of America.”
The New York congresswoman continued the theme of attacking “ all the power,” and “all the wealthy people, as she hailed UAW as a” fighting” and “a militant union.”
While Ocasio-Cortez warned voters that the race is “down to the wire” she expressed confidence that “a united working class cannot be defeated” and that Michigan could pull off a win for Harris.
“Detroit is the home of the most powerful union in America because this is a black, beautiful, strong city right here. This. This is a place where miracles happen, and this is the place that is going to deliver a Kamala Harris presidency right here from the state of Michigan,” she said.
While the majority of unions have backed Harris, the Teamsters, one of the most powerful labor unions in the country, has notably declined to back her candidacy. Polling from the Teamsters 1.3 million members released last month showed 59.6% backed Trump compared to 34% for Harris.
During a dueling rally in Michigan on Friday, Trump argued that while union leaders backed Harris, he enjoyed more support from union workers than thought.
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“We were talking to auto workers all summer, four or five months, and I would ask them, I do my own poll, ‘what’s it like inside? Are they voting for Trump? How’s our support?’ I’d say,” a Trump surrogate said at the event in Warren.
Auto Workers for Trump founder: “The UAW members are voting for Donald Trump for President!” ‼️MAGA‼️™️ pic.twitter.com/G0XKRXGJhP
— Taxman™️ (@TaxmanTm) November 1, 2024
“Do we have a majority in there? They’d say ‘majority.’ You got 65 or 70%. We’re not voting for Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris. So don’t believe anything you read in the newspaper. Don’t believe anything you see Sean Fain talking about the auto workers. UAW members are voting for Donald Trump,” he continued.
