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    • Rashida Tlaib refuses to support Kamala Harris at UAW rally in Detroit
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    Rashida Tlaib refuses to support Kamala Harris at UAW rally in Detroit

    Caradoc Wyn Posted on

    Detroit — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit declined to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency at a United Auto Workers union rally on Friday, as Democrats launched a late appeal to bring union voters to the polls.

    Tlaib, one of the few senior Democrats who has not endorsed Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, was among the speakers at the UAW rally on the lawn of Solidarity House in Detroit. Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, criticized the Biden administration’s stance on Israel’s war against the militant group Hamas in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed mostly civilians.

    Earlier in the day, Tlaib criticized Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign appearance in Dearborn, home to most Arab Americans in Michigan. Trump was supported by the Muslim mayors of Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck, among other Arab Americans.

    “Trump is a proud Islamophobe + serial liar who does not stand for peace,” Tlaib wrote in response to those who continue to support genocide. This election didn’t have to be close.

    At the UAW meeting later in the day, Tlaib refrained from endorsing the party’s top convention and instead urged hundreds of union members not just to vote, but to encourage friends and family to do so.

    “Don’t underestimate the power you all have,” she said. “More than these ads, these lawn signs, these billboards, you all have more power to produce people who understand that we must stand up against corporate greed in our country.”

    More: Trump says in Dearborn that people are “not doing their job” in the Middle East conflict.

    She focused her speech to UAW members on election campaigns, particularly the judicial races, and voiced her support for Democratic nominees for the Michigan Supreme Court, Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberley Thomas, in their respective races against Republicans Patrick O’Grady and Andrew Fink.

    “We need to make sure the nonpartisan portion of the ballot is filled out,” Tlaib said.

    Tlaib is the only member of the far left’s so-called “Squad” who did not support Harris. The other three members — U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York — endorsed Harris in July after Biden announced his exit from the race.

    Ocasio-Cortez joined Tlaib at the UAW rally, where the democratic socialist gave Harris her full support.

    “This is the place where miracles happen,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “and this is the place where the Kamala Harris presidency will take place, right here in the state of Michigan.”

    Ocasio-Cortez drew parallels between her hometown of the Bronx, New York and Detroit.

    “I want to be from a place that is proud to get our hands dirty and knock on a door and fix our own cars and make sure we know what it means to be an everyday person,” said she. “I love being in a place where people don’t forget where they come from.”

    She was introduced by UAW President Shawn Fain, who said Harris would be the right choice for union members of all stripes.

    “We need people like Kamala Harris at the top, allied with us and demanding deals that serve working-class people,” Fain said. “We must fight corporate greed on all fronts. From the workplace to the bargaining table to the ballot box.”

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    Caradoc Wyn
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