FLINT, Michigan — Vice President Kamala Harris promised not to ban gas-powered vehicles if elected as president, one day after former President Donald Trump told Michigan voters she would decimate the car industry.
Speaking to rallygoers in Flint, Michigan, Harris denied that she would mandate electric vehicles in a speech squarely focused on job creation in the auto sector.
Harris supported legislation imposing a ban in the Senate but walked back that position after announcing her run for president.
“Contrary to what my opponent is suggesting, I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive,” she said on Friday.
Harris has not backed away from the Biden administration’s effort to transition the economy to electric vehicles. In fact, she painted Trump as negligent for not investing in their development as president.
“I will make sure America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century,” she said.
Still, Harris’s remark suggests a defensive posture on one of the most politically fraught topics for Michigan voters. Flint, the birthplace of General Motors, has lost much of its auto manufacturing over the decades, and Trump argues the phasing out of gasoline cars will accelerate that trend.
He appeared in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday with a tough-on-China message and the promise of a “manufacturing renaissance” if elected to a second term.
Harris’s answer to Trump was to focus on his record as president. She accused him of letting down the working class while noting that auto plants in Warren, Detroit, and elsewhere closed under his administration.
In total, the number of auto jobs under Trump grew slightly before the pandemic, while there has been a larger expansion under Biden.
“Thousands of Michigan auto workers lost their jobs, and when it came to building the cars of the future, Donald Trump sat on the sidelines and let China dominate,” Harris said.
Harris promised investments in union jobs if she is elected and made a show of labor support. Before she appeared onstage, she was introduced by Eric Price, a local United Auto Workers leader, plus Shawn Fain, the UAW president.
Meanwhile, she sought to shore up support among young black men with an appearance by basketball legend Magic Johnson.
“Our black men, we gotta get them out to vote. Kamala’s opponent promised a lot of things to the black community that he did not deliver on. And we gotta help black men understand that,” Johnson said at the event.
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In September, Trump made an appearance at the same Flint convention center where Harris rallied supporters on Friday and has used unconventional media this cycle to reach out to the black community.
On Friday, the Trump campaign accused Biden of “upstaging” Harris with a surprise press conference held as she campaigned in Detroit. Biden told reporters that he and Harris are “singing from the same song sheet,” a comment Republicans quickly used to tie her to the Biden agenda.
