Boccieri, UAW Leaders Slam Trump Ahead of Visit
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Donald Trump “scares the hell out of me,” state Rep. John Boccieri, D-Poland, said this morning at a press conference called by Democrats ahead of the Republican presidential candidate’s scheduled speech this afternoon at Youngstown State University.
“I remain extremely concerned about this reckless and dangerous pattern of accusations, comments and actions by a presidential candidate,” said Boccieri, a former member of Congress and a veteran.
Trump is scheduled to deliver his address on foreign policy, terrorism and immigration at 2 p.m. at YSU’s Kilcawley Center.
Boccieri, Glenn Johnson, president of UAW Local 1112, and Robert Morales, president of UAW Local 1714, convened the press event at the local campaign headquarters of the Democratic nominee for president, Hillary Clinton, Monday morning.
Boccieri said as a veteran, he’s especially outraged at Trump’s attacks on Khizir Kahn and his wife, Gold Star parents who lost their son in Iraq. Kahn criticized Trump during a speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The state representative said he’s also dismayed at Trump’s invitation to Russia to hack into Clinton’s email server in order to retrieve missing correspondence, the possibility of Trump’s ties to Russia and Ukraine, and his support for world dictators, who Bocceri described as “known enemies of the United States.”
Add to this a laundry list of false statements made by Trump during the campaign, and you have a candidate who is simply unprepared to be commander-in-chief, Boccieri said. “We can’t have a commander-in-chief who is unresponsive to our national interests, who would put our men and women at risk overseas with dangerous comments,” he said.
“Having witnessed what is going on in this presidential race, Donald Trump scares the hell out of me,” Boccieri said. “Words do matter.”
Johnson and Morales, whose memberships include about 4,000 workers at General Motors Co.’s Lordstown Complex, said that Trump is not to be trusted on trade deals, especially when the billionaire manufactures his own brand-name products overseas.
To illustrate this, Johnson displayed a Trump brand tie that was manufactured in China. “Trump likes to talk about putting America first, but he didn’t do it as a businessman.” he said.
Although Trump has talked tough on trade, and vowed to repeal agreements such as NAFTA and hold countries such as China accountable for breaking trade laws, Johnson said that his actions speak otherwise.
“The Trump ties are from China, the shirts are from Bangladesh. Trump furniture is made in Turkey, Trump mirrors in India, and his broadware in Slovenia,” Johnson said. “He will not put American workers first. Sometimes you have to lead by example. He has never done that.”
Johnson acknowledged it was former president Bill Clinton who supported the now unpopular NAFTA ,which Hillary Clinton initially backed. However, Johnson noted that Hillary Clinton has pledged to revisit the agreement.
Morales said that Trump has spent decades shipping work that should be done in America overseas and the concern is that “he would do the same as president. We know the importance of manufacturing and the affect it has on our community.”
Pictured: Glenn Johnson, president of UAW Local 1112, state Rep. John Boccieri, and Robert Morales, president of UAW Local 1714, at this morning’s news conference.
MORE:
All Eyes on Donald Trump’s Speech Today at YSU
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
