# President Joe Biden and the runup to the 2024 election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 15, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384 "2021-11-15T14:54:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/512 "2024-01-29T23:22:12Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The Democrat’s shift to identity politics is killing them with blue collar workers. By “identity politics” do you mean “considering the views of people other than white right-wing Christian men”? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/513 "2024-01-29T23:26:03Z")
That would represent a pretty dramatic shift in messaging. Maybe you could point me at the interview. I just spent a few minutes searching for stories involving Mr. Fain from Jan 1 through Jan 15 and can’t find anything at all like that. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/514 "2024-01-29T23:43:02Z")
Here you go: > **[Donald Trump's winning with union that just endorsed Biden](https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-winning-union-that-just-endorsed-biden-1864117)** > > "A great majority of our members will not vote for President Biden," United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said. > [@](#): > > While appearing on [Fox](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/fox) News Channel’s _Your World with Neil Cavuto_ , United Auto Workers Union (UAW) President Shawn Fain spoke about the union’s recent endorsement of Biden but noted that many members may still vote for Trump. > > “Let me be clear about this,” Fain said. “A great majority of our members will not vote for President Biden. Yes, some will, but that’s the reality of this. The majority of our members are gonna vote for their paychecks, they’re gonna vote for an economy that works for them.” Exactly what I said. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/515 "2024-01-29T23:45:05Z")
You chopped the quote to make it misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/516 "2024-01-29T23:48:23Z")
Then give us the full quote that is less misleading. I chopped the relevant part where he literally said that the large majority of his members won’t vote for Biden. My claim was that Biden was losing b lue collar workers. So what was misleading? Please correct the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/517 "2024-01-29T23:51:40Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I chopped the relevant part where he literally said that the large majority of his members won’t vote for Biden. It doesn’t say they will vote for Trump though. It sounds like I’m splitting hairs, but I’m not. He didn’t even mention Trump’s name. You made that up. It’s likely he meant that the vast majority won’t vote, period. If he has disheartened union members who are unmotivated, they won’t go out and vote for either candidate. I doubt that they were doing spectacularly well when Trump was POTUS. So voting with their paycheck would mean not voting for either one. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/518 "2024-01-29T23:57:52Z")
If I told you, “White Christian men aren’t voting _for_ Donald Trump, they’re voting for their children’s ethic future.”, how would you parse that? Would you think Trump was losing votes? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/519 "2024-01-30T00:00:33Z")
So let’s have the full quote: > Let me be clear about this. A great majority of our members will not vote for President Biden. Yes, some will, but that’s the reality of this. The majority of our members are going to vote with their paychecks, they’re going to vote for an economy that works for them, they’re going to vote for a president — when you look at these two presidents, the choice is very clear about which one stands up with the working class and stands up with labor and which one stands with the billionaire class and that’s his base. That’s the full quote. In this quote, “a president” is clearly referring to one of two candidates. Which one is it referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/520 "2024-01-30T00:03:19Z")
It’s a very confusing quote in the context and given his other comments. I wonder if he meant to say “President Trump” at the beginning? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/521 "2024-01-30T00:03:45Z")
I went through and watched the whole interview here: > **[UAW endorses Biden for 2024 | Fox News Video](https://www.foxnews.com/video/6345567954112)** > > United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain explains why they feel President Biden ‘stands with working-class people’ on ‘Your World.’  I did not get the impression that Fain was literally saying that most UAW members are Trump supporters. Because after he said that most autoworkers “are gonna vote for their paychecks”, he then followed it up by saying that one side is for the working man and the other side is for billionaires. So at most he gave a mixed answer. Truncating it is definitely misleading. > [@Gyrate](#): > > I wonder if he meant to say “President Trump” at the beginning? I wonder about that too. Watching the video, it seemed like he _meant_ to say they’re not going to vote for Trump, because his answer was in response to Cavuto saying that UAW members can be seen at Trump rallies. He seemed to be trying to contradict Cavuto by saying that no, they know that they are going to be better off with Biden as POTUS because Trump tried to scapegoat them in the past, and Biden literally stood by them on the picket line and supported them. It had to have been a misspeak, otherwise what he said didn’t make a lot of sense. Watching the video is clearer than reading a transcript (especially a truncated one). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/522 "2024-01-30T00:52:03Z")
Yes, Fain clearly misspoke in talking with Cavuto. This is from yesterday. > **[Transcript: UAW President Shawn Fain on "Face the Nation," Jan. 28, 2024](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/shawn-fain-uaw-face-the-nation-transcript-01-28-2024/)** > > The following is a transcript of an interview with Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, that aired on Jan. 28, 2024. > When you look at the- at the issues during our contract campaign, retirement security, better wages, health care, wanting our time back, wanting our lives back. That’s what matters. That’s why 75% of the American public stood with the UAW in our fight. And I believe that’s why a huge majority of our members and working class people will side with President Joe Biden in the upcoming election. No, Biden did not lose the union workers. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/523 "2024-01-30T00:56:17Z")
The context is clearly that the members aren’t voting for the man, but for his agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/524 "2024-01-30T00:58:54Z")
Perhaps he meant that their members never vote for a man, per se. Rather, they vote for an outcome that aligns with their goals and values, and that goal dovetails with a vote for Biden. Anyway, tough to parse the full quote to mean Trump’s their membership’s guy. ETA: What Smapti said. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/525 "2024-01-30T01:03:08Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Anyway, tough to parse the full quote to mean Trump’s their membership’s guy. Especially in context with the full interview, which is unequivocally supportive of Biden and against Trump. But Cavuto was getting frustrated because he wasn’t getting his “BIDEN SUCKS” soundbite, pushed hard to Fain to get it, and Fain misspoke. There is absolutely no way to come away from that interview, if you watch the whole thing, thinking that the UAW is cold or even lukewarm on Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/526 "2024-01-30T01:10:11Z")
No, the context is that they will vote for Biden. That’s clearly what he meant. > And I believe the overwhelming majority of UAW members and working class people, when the facts and the truth are put in front of them, will support Joe Biden for president. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/527 "2024-01-30T01:30:12Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > No, the context is that they will vote for Biden. That’s what I said. They’re not voting for Biden the man, they’re voting for him because of his agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/528 "2024-01-30T01:32:19Z")
Gotcha. I don’t see anywhere that it’s implied that they don’t like him as a person, but he’s _definitely_ saying that the agenda is important to the autoworkers. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/529 "2024-01-30T05:02:59Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I chopped the relevant part where he literally said that the large majority of his members won’t vote for Biden. _This November, we can stand up and elect someone who wants to stand with us and support our cause. Or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way," Fain said in a statement. "That’s what this choice is about._ _“The question is, who do we want in that office to give us the best shot of winning? Of organizing. Of negotiating strong contracts. Of uniting the working class and winning our fair share once again, as our union has done so many times in our nation’s history. We need to know who’s going to sit in the most powerful seat in the world and help us win as a united working class.”_ _During his appearance on Fox Business News, Fain explained the union’s decision to endorse Biden._ _“If you look at the facts and the body of work of both candidates and both of them in their own words, nowhere in history has Donald Trump ever stood for the American worker,” he said. “He stands against everything we pretty much stand for.”_ ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/530 "2024-01-30T05:07:15Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > So what was misleading? Please correct the quote. This part? > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The Democrat’s shift to identity politics is killing them with blue collar workers. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384/531 "2024-01-30T06:45:50Z")
Well, _I_ say Trump’s and his party’s shift towards identity politics is killing them with _multiple_ demographics. Just for fair balance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/president-joe-biden-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-election/954384.md?page=27)