Biden: Trump's 'chaotic trade threats, erratic tweets, and bluster' have hurt U.S. workers

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was in Ohio on Monday, where he told autoworkers in Toledo that President Trump's "chaotic trade threats, erratic tweets, and bluster" have "stiffed American workers and customers. He's let you down."

During this drive-in campaign rally, Biden said if elected, he will enact a "trade strategy" that "gets results," and will "stand up to China's trade abuses. I will invest in you." He discussed what it was like when, as vice president, he worked with former President Barack Obama to rescue the auto industry in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. "Barack and I bet on you," Biden said, "and it paid off."

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, northeastern Ohio's unemployment rate was higher than the national rate, due to the loss of manufacturing jobs, NBC News reports. Biden's "Build Back Better" plan calls for working with allies to "modernize international trade rules" and investing billions in U.S. manufacturing – Biden said he wants to make a $400 billion procurement investment in American products, a $300 billion investment in research and development and breakthrough technologies, and bring back critical supply chains to the United States.

The polls show a tight race in Ohio, a state Trump won by eight points in 2016. The latest Great Lake Poll conducted by Baldwin Wallace University shows Trump leading Biden 47 to 45.4 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. "What this tells me is that Ohio is a competitive state, but it's a much longer climb for Biden to win when Trump won the state by eight points four years ago," Tom Sutton, political science chair at Baldwin Wallace University, told Cleveland.com.

More stories from theweek.com
Biden's post-election tightrope walk
The Democrats' desperate SCOTUS scaremongering
An anxious poll-watcher's guide to 2020