DETROIT — Former President Donald Trump held a rally at Drake Enterprises, a non-union shop that manufactures auto parts. This comes in the middle of a strike by the United Auto Workers union against the big three car companies: Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.

“I want a future that protects American labor, not foreign labor," Trump said. 

Trump came to Michigan just a day after President Biden manned the picket lines with the auto workers, making him the first president in modern history to do so. Trump took aim at Biden’s electric car policy ambitions, just 30 minutes outside of the motor city.

“The workers of America are getting, to put it very nicely, screwed," Trump said. 

Both candidates are vying for the union’s backing in a key battleground state.

“Hopefully your leaders and United Auto Workers will endorse Donald Trump," Trump said. 

But UAW President Shawn Fain slammed the former president for hosting a rally for auto workers at a non-unionized shop, calling it ironic, and a PR stunt.

“I don’t think the man has any bit of care about what our workers stand for, what the working class stands for," Fain said. "He serves the billionaire class, and that’s what’s wrong with this country.”

Trump skipped the second GOP primary debate for the rally in Michigan. His supporters said they would rather have him on the stump than the debate stage.

“President Trump has a bigger message than what many of the candidates from the Republican Party debate... has got anything to say," said Trump supporter Deborah Fuqua-Frey. "President Trump is for the American people."