Harris makes appeal to workers on Michigan swing ahead of Election Day

Vice President Harris made an appeal to Michigan workers Monday on her three-stop swing across the critical battleground, trying to appease to voters in the "blue wall" state just more than a week out from Election Day.

Harris toured an International Union of Painters and Allied Trades training facility to meet with workers in Macomb County, Mich., in an effort to reach out to the key voting bloc that is considered essential to winning the White House in November.

“This is highly-skilled work, you do it with a sense of pride, you do it with a sense of commitment, you are making our country stronger and better with the work that you’re doing,” Harris said.

She then criticized former President Trump, arguing that he has been “awful” to union members.

“We have to value the skill. My opponent, he doesn’t understand the importance of what you do,” she said. “He gives a lot of talk about what he cares about, but when it comes specifically to unions and union labor, he was awful… he’s not concerned about or working for working people.”

“We have an election coming up in eight days,” she added, and a worker replied, “that you’re going to win!” The vice president high-fived him.

The worker added, “You’re here, he’s not.”

“You look at how he talks down to the American people, he degrades who we are as America,” Harris said.

She was joined on the visit by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who runs the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm.

Harris began her tour on Monday at a factory in Saginaw, where she met with workers and toured Corning Incorporated’s Hemlock Semiconductor facility alongside Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) and Corning Chair and CEO Wendell Weeks.

On that stop, she endorsed the idea of not requiring a college degree for workers in high-skilled jobs.

“We need to get in front of this idea that high-skilled jobs require a college degree. It’s just not true,” she said, reiterating that if elected, she also wants to look at what types of federal jobs might also apply a no-degree requirement.

Harris also took the opportunity to criticize Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, for his criticism of the CHIPS and Science Act, one of President Biden’s top legislative accomplishments that aims to compete with China through semiconductor manufacturing.

Trump, during an appearance with Joe Rogan on Friday called the bill "bad," arguing instead in favor of tariffs. Harris, in turn on Monday, criticized Trump's time in the White House.

“When he was president, he sold advanced chips to China that helped them with their agenda to modernize their military,” Harris said about Trump. “That's not about what's in the best interest of America's security and prosperity, which should be two of the highest priorities for president in the United States.”

Harris has struggled with unionized blue-collar workers, who are essential to winning swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. Union workers shifted toward Democrats in 2020 after resonating with former President Trump’s anti-China rhetoric in 2016.

Trump and Harris are neck and neck in Michigan, with Trump polling slightly ahead at 48.2 percent to Harris's 47.9 percent.

Updated at 5:42 p.m.