The Language Trump Used To Demonize EVs During His Michigan Rally

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Instead of joining a debate with 7 Republican candidates vying for the position of party presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump decided to visit a non-union auto parts plant in Michigan. During the stop, Trump excoriated the Biden administration for its push toward transportation electrification. The language Trump used during his Detroit stop was part of a broader goal to divide a self-identified pro-union advocate in President Joe Biden from an automotive workforce that is in turmoil.

The campaign rally was concurrent with the ongoing UAW strike, in which concerns over wage loss, diminishing benefits, and the length of workweek have led to an impasse between Detroit automakers and their workers. Moreover, the UAW feels the billions of dollars in tax incentives and loans sprinkled on automakers to retool their factories for EVs was flawed, as the incentive had not stipulated that automakers with a union-only workforce would benefit.

Trump sought to use the campaign stop to appeal to white working class voters in a critical swing state. The UAW malaise has been positioned by both parties as a gauge for potential votes, and the strike is having its effects on automakers — Ford halted production on its CATL project this week.

The language Trump used during his Detroit area stop is indicative of his powerful and quite scary persuasive capacity. Let’s zoom in on how he described EVs and his personal commitment to autoworkers. We’ll deconstruct facts, fantasy, and the ever-so-difficult gray areas that auto manufacturers are facing as they open a door to a new era of innovation – and the costs thereof.

The Language Trump Used, Deconstructed

“I put everything on the line to fight for you.”

Keywords =

• “everything on the line:” Time magazine described Trump’s talk as “a meandering, hour long speech” to workers, striking “a populist tone.” In a separate piece, Time also commented, “It’s easy for a populist, reactionary politician to point to Biden’s agenda as the cause of complex problems with little political consequence.” But “everything?” Hardly.
• “fight for you:” The AFL-CIO contradicts this statement mightily. Donald Trump told the major union group in 2016 he would stand with workers. They say he lied. Former President Trump spent 4 years in office weakening unions and working people while pushing tax giveaways to the wealthiest in the country. “He stacked the courts with judges who want to roll back our rights on the job,” their statement reads.  The National Labor Relations Board, which oversees labor relations at most businesses, and Trump’s court appointments, particularly to the Supreme Court, have handed unions major setbacks since he took office in 2017. Then again, Trump wasn’t speaking to workers at a union facility. (How did his handlers bungle this campaign stop amidst a UAW strike so badly?)

“Biden’s job-killing EV mandate has dictated that nearly 70% of all cars sold in the United States must be fully electric less than 10 years from now.”

Keywords =

• “job-killing:” Most analysts think building EVs in the US will help the country better compete with China. Carbon neutrality may require less US manufacturing emphasis on the highly profitable SUVs — so automakers may have to concede to produce less quantities of them or re-engineer them so their output contributes significantly fewer emissions.
• “EV mandate:” The stated goal of the Biden administration is reducing GHG emissions to fight the climate crisis. While not a “mandate,” it does promote an existential shift in the US automotive car industry.
• “70% fully electric in less than 10 years:” The Biden administration vision is directing US automobile manufacturers toward a catalog that is about two-thirds battery-electric by 2032. The decarbonization of materials production is similarly crucial, and the pathway to the zero carbon value chain remains unclear.

“By most estimates under Biden’s electric vehicle mandate, 40% of all US auto jobs will disappear — think of this — in one or two years.”

Keywords =

• “40% of all US auto jobs will disappear:” President Biden has called for EVs to be “made and sourced by union workers right here in America,” but US automakers were slow to accept the transition and are now playing catch up. The conservative American Policy Institute does state that automakers like Ford and Volkswagen report that EV manufacturing requires 30% to 40% less labor than (internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
• “auto jobs will disappear… in one or two years:” A 2023 analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) finds that US auto industry jobs could rise by 150,000 if battery electric vehicles sales reach 50% by then and the vehicle market share of US-assembled vehicles increases to 60% from today’s 50%. The EPI offers a supporting data point from the American Automakers Policy Council that the 15 major automakers in the US employ about 388,000 workers. Including such employers as suppliers, dealers, and service centers, there are more than 7.25 million people employed in the industry at large, or about 5% of the US workforce.

“People have no idea how bad this is going to be also for the environment. You know, those batteries when they get rid of ’em and lots of bad things happen. And when they’re digging it out of the ground to make those batteries, it’s going to be very bad for the environment.” 

Keywords =

• “people have no idea:” People, actually, do have an increasing body of knowledge about EVs. As early as 2016, it became evident that US auto models emitting less carbon are the least expensive to drive, according to MIT research. What Trump isn’t admitting is EVs are projected to have a positive influence on the US economy. That’s because EVs will reduce the US economy’s vulnerability to oil-related geopolitical risk and oil price shocks and will improve battery and charging technology. The latter will occur due to manufacturing processes that require less energy, have greater charging capacity, and will be more able to be recycled.
• “bad for the environment:” Although EVs’ batteries make them more carbon intensive to manufacture than ICE vehicles, they more than make up for it by driving much cleaner under nearly any conditions. US automakers realize the importance of controlling the battery supply for upcoming EV models. In 2021, Gerald Johnson, GM’s executive vice president of global manufacturing, confirmed, “Doing our own battery and cell production and battery assembly allows for all the key elements of the supply chain to be right here in the US with American workers doing the manufacturing for us.”
• “batteries.. get rid of them… bad things happen:” All parts of the circular economy will need to identify critical changes that need to be made in the value chain, like rethinking the end of life of a vehicle, which right now is left up to individual manufacturers. Recycling EV batteries will definitely help reduce the carbon footprint from their manufacture and reduce the amount of raw materials, such as lithium, needed.

A very handy C-span video provides a searchable filter so you can locate particular language Trump used in the campaign rally that interests you.