This is an adapted excerpt from August 13 episode of “Alex Wagner Tonight.”
On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ran his first solo campaign event since joining the Democratic ticket. Walz addressed one of the country’s largest public sector unions, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Years ago, the unions are big fans of Walz. As governor of Minnesota, he banned non-compete agreements and guaranteed workers paid sick leave. He made it so that companies could not force workers to attend meetings where they argued against unionization. The guy even has joined pickets.
The reason I mention all of this is because it stands in stark contrast to how the other side of this race thinks about work.
On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ran an interview broadcast live with billionaire owner of Tesla and the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Elon Musk. In just the last few years, Musk laid off nearly 80% of Twitter’s workforce. He was also found responsible in court for illegally firing a Tesla worker who was trying to form a union.
During his conversation with Musk, Trump offered his opinion on these job cuts, calling Musk “the greatest cutter.”
“I mean, I see what you do, you walk in and you just say, ‘Do you want to quit?’ They go on strike – I won’t mention the name of the company – but they go on strike and you say, ‘Okay, you’re all gone’.”
On Tuesday, the United Auto Workers union filed federal labor charges against Trump and Musk for that statement. The group’s president released a statement that said, bluntly, “When we say Donald Trump is a strikebreaker, we mean it.”
The United Auto Workers already endorsed Harris. With your support – and the support of other labor organizations like the UAW – the Harris-Walz campaign may be able to reinforce the “blue wall” and win in November.
Join Alex Wagner, Rachel Maddow and many others on Saturday, September 7 in Brooklyn, New York for “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024,” a first-of-its-kind live event. You’ll see your favorite hosts in person and hear thought-provoking conversations about what’s most important in the final weeks of an unprecedented election cycle. Buy tickets here.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
