President Biden traveling to Michigan on Feb. 1 to meet with UAW members
President Joe Biden will visit Michigan on Thursday as he rallies support from union members in a key battleground state where he's faced sharp criticism from Arab and Muslim leaders over his handling of the war in Gaza.
Biden's campaign confirmed the upcoming visit and said the president will be in Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 1.
"Last week, the UAW announced their endorsement of President Biden for reelection, highlighting his career fighting for workers and higher wages, and the stark contrast between the Biden-Harris administration's record creating millions of good-paying, union manufacturing jobs in America and Donald Trump's extreme, anti-worker agenda that shipped jobs overseas and shuttered factories. Last year President Biden joined UAW workers on the picket line in Detroit during their successful strike for better pay and benefits," read the statement from his campaign.
The Democratic president previously joined union members on their picket line in Michigan when they were striking for better pay from the country's largest automakers.
"I'm honored to have your back and you have mine," Biden said. Shawn Fain, the union president, said that Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee, "doesn't care about the American worker."
Biden won Michigan in 2020, but a repeat victory has been thrown in doubt, partially because of anger over his support for Israel's military operation in Gaza. Some Arab American leaders declined to attend a meeting with Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, on Friday.
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Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.
