Trump Lags Romney Among UAW members

September 29, 2016  
By Steven Wishnia and Neal Tepel

Detroit, MI – Donald Trump’s support among United Auto Workers members is less than what the Republican presidential nominees had in 2008 and 2012, union President Dennis Williams said Sept. 23.

A UAW internal survey found about 25% of members backing Trump—more than the 19% who did during the summer, but less than the 28% Mitt Romney had in 2012 and the 30-32% John McCain got in 2008. “It’s going down,” Williams told reporters. “The more and more we educate our members, the more they’re understanding why we endorsed Hillary Clinton.” While he said Trump’s proposal to levy a 35% tariff on cars produced in Mexico that are imported to the U.S. was not a bad idea, in practice, Trump is just “[throwing] out one-liners,” because the President doesn’t have the authority to impose tariffs on one country. Clinton, Williams added, “made every indication that she would sit down and try to redo NAFTA,” the North American Free Trade Agreement, when she met with him before the UAW endorsed her last May. Read more