Trump and Musk v the working class:

Since the tech billionaire endorsed Trump on July 13, the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly attacked Musk for his anti-worker stances. The campaign has called Musk and Trump “self-obsessed rich guys” and reposted audio from an event on Musk’s social media app, X, in which the two laugh together about firing striking workers. 

Then there was the live one-on-one discussion on X, which Trump’s campaign billed as “the interview of the century.” Partway through the two-hour event, Trump brought up how much he admires Musk’s handling of labor unions. 

“I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, ‘You wanna quit?’” Trump said while laughing. 

“Yeah,” Musk broke in, also laughing. 

“They go on strike,” Trump continued. “I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone, so every one of you is gone.’ And you are the greatest.” 

Hur hur hur. There is a law against that though.

The episode snowballed. The United Auto Workers union filed unfair labor practice charges against Musk and Trump, alleging they interfered with workers who may want to exercise their labor rights. The UAW’s Fain pressed the issue in media interviews. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said at an event at the Democratic National Convention: “You can’t be pro-Elon Musk and pro-worker.” 

Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, slammed Trump and Musk’s comments as “economic terrorism.” 

American workers’ right to strike is guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. 

And you know what happened after that? The whole damn auto industry unionized (and the Reuther brothers invented the sitdown strike). It was unionized labor that made all those thousands of planes and tanks and ships that turned the tide against the Nazis.

Labor union leaders have been harshly critical of Trump’s time in office, citing his appointment of conservatives to the NLRB and the federal courts. At the same time, Trump has sought to maintain some ties to organized labor, inviting some union leaders to the White House while he was president and continuing to court the Teamsters. 

Yeah well inviting some union heads to the White House is hardly the same thing as being a friend to union labor. Not even close.