Joe Biden Wants To Bring The Glory Days Back To The Auto Industry

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is looking to bring the auto industry back to its glory days of the 1940s and '50s.

Biden addressed the auto industry on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in a conversation with Gerald Lang, a GM employee from Michigan and vice president of Local 5960 of the United Auto Workers Union in Orion Township.

Biden talked about the growth of the auto industry as part of a new era for the manufacturers that have been struggling under the weight of the coronavirus.

"It is an iconic industry," Biden said. "It is an American industry. We made it."

The former vice president said he is committed to creating 5 million manufacturing and technology jobs. He said his economic strategy was focused on “jobs, dignity, respect and community.”

He also talked about a future for autoworkers with “newly empowered labor unions.”

Biden, who was in office as vice president during the 2009 auto bailout, is expected to use that experience to his advantage to gain votes from members of the UAW, which has endorsed him for president, The Detroit News reported.

The auto bailout dates back to December 2008, when President George W. Bush gave $25 billion in emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler. President Barack Obama gave another $55 billion in loans, and then forced the two automakers into bankruptcy to avoid job cuts across the industry.

Biden’s focus on the automotive industry is an attempt to win over the state of Michigan, which Trump won in 2016. He was the first Republican to carry the state since 1988.

"We have to deliver here," Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told The Detroit News. “Joe Biden will not be president if he doesn't win Michigan.