Harris kicks off fall campaign blitz with Labor Day events in key states

By Alison Main and Arit John, CNN

Detroit (CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign planned to hold a string of Labor Day-themed events in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania Monday, marking the unofficial launch of the fall campaign sprint in the states that will determine the November election.

The events come as Harris seeks to extend her momentum over the next two months. While Harris has sought to expand the map of states where she is competitive, the Labor Day stops point to the importance of winning those three “Blue Wall” states that propelled President Joe Biden to victory in 2020.

Harris emphasized the “dignity of work” and vowed to strengthen protections for collective bargaining to a crowd of union members and leaders in Michigan on Labor Day, while drawing sharp contrasts with opponent Donald Trump.

“We celebrate unions because unions helped build America, and unions helped build America’s middle class,” she told a packed high school gymnasium here in Michigan.

Harris was joined on stage by national union leaders, including United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and National Education Association president Becky Pringle.

The vice president reiterated her support for the PRO Act, legislation that would ensure workers’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain for workplace changes, and vowed to “end union busting once and for all.”

The Detroit rally comes 64 days ahead of election day and, as Harris noted in her remarks, 24 days before mail-in absentee voting begins in Michigan. The vice president echoed her warnings that the race would be close to the end.

“I’m telling you we know how they play, we know what they do,” she said. “So let’s not pay too much attention to the polls. Let’s know, like labor always does, we are out here running like we are the underdog in this race because we know what we are fighting for.”

Harris was set to hold a campaign event with labor leaders in Detroit Monday before joining President Joe Biden for a rally in Pittsburgh Monday evening, the president’s first joint campaign appearance with the vice president since he ended his reelection bid in July and endorsed her.

Harris is also expected to use the Pennsylvania event to say US Steel should be owned domestically and oppose the company’s purchase by the Japanese owned Nippon Steel, according to a campaign official.

Meanwhile, her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is scheduled to give a speech at the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s Labor Fest 2024 in Wisconsin. He will also meet with labor leaders in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, had no scheduled events Monday. Trump used his social media site to bash Harris over high gas and grocery costs and tout his work renegotiating America’s trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

“We can’t keep living under this weak and failed ‘Leadership,’” Trump said on TruthSocial.

The Harris campaign knocked the former president for not holding any events on the holiday.

“Donald Trump is ditching workers on Labor Day because he is an anti-worker, anti-union extremist who will sell out working families for his billionaire donors if he takes power,” campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement.

Ahead of Harris’ Labor Day remarks in Detroit, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised the vice president’s record and bashed the Republican ticket as disconnected from the common man.

“Look, if your most famous line is ‘You’re fired,’ you sure as hell don’t understand workers,” Whitmer later said, referencing Trump’s catchphrase on his former reality show “The Apprentice.” “I want our next President to say to workers, whomever she might be, I’ve got your back.”

Whitmer said Harris has been part of “the most pro-labor administration in American history,” and praised Harris’ work as a senator and attorney general to stand with picketing workers and take on big banks and pharmaceutical companies, as well as Walz’s work to bring infrastructure investments to his state and raise minimum wage for delivery drivers.

Trump has been critical of labor leaders, including United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, but has sought the support of workers in the same Rust Belt states Harris and Walz campaigned in Monday. The former president has focused his attention on the Biden administration’s efforts to boost the production and purchase of electric vehicles, which Trump has argued will come at the expense of autoworkers.

Michigan Trump allies railed against Vice President Kamala Harris on the issue of auto manufacturing ahead of the Democratic presidential nominee’s Labor Day visit to Detroit, where she’ll greet union members and national and local leaders.

“What makes America great, part of it, is our economy, and the Harris administration is coming after autoworkers’ jobs,” Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, told reporters on a call Monday morning. “There will continue to be more layoffs.”

McClain, who represents the northern part of the metro Detroit area, as well as Republican Rep. John James, who represents a neighboring district, both argued that Biden-Harris administration policies meant to increase the producing of electric vehicles in the US are unrealistic.

The Harris campaign has pushed back on previous claims by Trump and Vance, including that the vice president supported a “mandate” for all electric vehicles. The administration’s goal is to have EVs comprise half of all new vehicle sales by 2030.

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