Vice President Kamala Harris courted union voters during a Labor Day campaign stop in Detroit.
Speaking to a room full of union members Monday, the Democratic presidential nominee praised the effect of strong organized labor on the nation’s workplaces.
“When union workplaces are safer, every workplace is safer,” Harris told the audience of several hundred union workers at Detroit’s Northwestern High School. “When unions are strong, America is strong."
Harris used the speech to draw a line between herself and the economic record of former president and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, noted that absentee voting begins in a little more than 3 weeks in Michigan.
Michigan is a key swing state in the presidential election, and polls show the race close in the state.
Harris T-shirts were a popular fashion choice among the thousands of union workers who marched in Detroit's Labor Day parade.
But not everyone was cheering Harris during her presidential campaign stop in Detroit.
“Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide,” chanted Gaza war protesters demonstrating outside the high school where Harris spoke and along the route of Detroit’s Labor Day march.
Mariam Abu-Tarboush is the Detroit chair of the group American Muslims for Palestine. She said they want Harris to support an arms embargo against Israel, adding that supporting a ceasefire is not enough.
“There is no ceasefire if we’re giving them all the weapons,” said Abu-Tarboush, “If you want us to elect you in the upcoming election in November, you’re going to have an arms embargo.”
Critics of the Biden administration’s support of Israel in its war with Hamas helped convince more than 100,000 Michiganders to vote “uncommitted” in February’s Democratic presidential primary.
Michigan has become a frequent stop on the presidential campaign trail.
Former President Trump was in the state twice last week.
Current President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the state on Friday.
