Harris kicks off fall campaign blitz with Labor Day events in key states

(CNN) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign held a string of Labor Day-themed events in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Monday, marking the unofficial launch of the fall campaign sprint in the states that will determine the November election.

The events come as Harris seeks to extend her momentum over the next two months. While the Democratic presidential nominee has sought to expand the map of states where she is competitive, the Labor Day stops point to the importance of winning those three “blue wall” states that propelled President Joe Biden to victory in 2020.

Biden joined Harris for a rally in Pittsburgh on Monday evening, the president’s first joint campaign appearance with the vice president since ending his reelection bid and endorsing her.

“I’ll be on the sidelines, but I’ll do everything I can to help,” Biden said. “Are you ready to make Donald Trump a loser again?”

Harris used the Pennsylvania event to say that US Steel should be owned domestically and that she opposed the company’s purchase by the Japanese-owned Nippon Steel.

“The president mentioned it: US Steel is a historic American company, and it is vital for our nation to maintain strong American steel companies. And I couldn’t agree more with President Biden, US Steel should remain American owned and American operated,” Harris said to a crowd of union members.

In a statement, a Nippon Steel spokesperson defended the deal, arguing that “U. S. Steel and the entire American steel industry will be on much stronger footing” under the acquisition.

Harris’ remarks in Pennsylvania largely echoed an earlier event in Detroit, where she emphasized the “dignity of work” and vowed to strengthen protections for collective bargaining to a crowd of union members and leaders, while drawing sharp contrasts with opponent Donald Trump.

“We celebrate unions because unions helped build America, and unions helped build America’s middle class,” she told a packed high school gymnasium here in Michigan.

Harris was joined onstage by national union leaders, including United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and National Education Association president Becky Pringle.

The vice president reiterated her support for the PRO Act, legislation that would ensure workers’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain for workplace changes, and vowed to “end union busting once and for all.”

Monday’s events come 64 days ahead of Election Day and, as Harris noted in her remarks, 24 days before mail-in absentee voting begins in Michigan and 14 days before it begins in Pennsylvania. The vice president echoed previous warnings that the race would be close to the end.

“I’m telling you we know how they play, we know what they do,” she said. “So let’s not pay too much attention to the polls. Let’s know, like labor always does, we are out here running like we are the underdog in this race because we know what we are fighting for.”

Meanwhile, her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, proudly boasted his ties to organized labor at a union event in Milwaukee, celebrating Labor Day by declaring himself in “the pocket” of unions and daring Republicans to “roll the damn dice” if they want to criticize his support for labor.

Walz detailed his union membership as a former public school teacher, his record of backing unions in Congress and as Minnesota’s governor, and highlighted Harris’ support for unions.

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, had no scheduled events Monday. Trump used his social media site to bash Harris over high gas and grocery costs and tout his work renegotiating America’s trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

“We can’t keep living under this weak and failed ‘Leadership,’” Trump said on Truth Social.

The Harris campaign knocked the former president for not holding any events on the holiday.

“Donald Trump is ditching workers on Labor Day because he is an anti-worker, anti-union extremist who will sell out working families for his billionaire donors if he takes power,” campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement.

Ahead of Harris’ Labor Day remarks in Detroit, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer praised the vice president’s record and bashed the Republican ticket as disconnected from the common man.

“Look, if your most famous line is ‘You’re fired,’ you sure as hell don’t understand workers,” Whitmer later said, referencing Trump’s catchphrase on his former reality show “The Apprentice.” “I want our next President to say to workers, whomever she might be, I’ve got your back.”

Whitmer said Harris has been part of “the most pro-labor administration in American history,” and praised Harris’ work as a senator and attorney general to stand with picketing workers and take on big banks and pharmaceutical companies, as well as Walz’s work to bring infrastructure investments to his state and raise minimum wage for delivery drivers.

Trump has been critical of labor leaders, including the United Auto Workers’ Fain, but has sought the support of workers in the same Rust Belt states Harris and Walz campaigned in Monday. The former president has focused his attention on the Biden administration’s efforts to boost the production and purchase of electric vehicles, which Trump has argued will come at the expense of autoworkers.

Michigan Trump allies railed against Harris on the issue of auto manufacturing ahead of the Democratic presidential nominee’s Labor Day visit to Detroit.

“What makes America great, part of it, is our economy, and the Harris administration is coming after autoworkers’ jobs,” Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, told reporters on a call Monday morning. “There will continue to be more layoffs.”

McClain, who represents the northern part of the metro Detroit area, as well as Republican Rep. John James, who represents a neighboring district, both argued that Biden-Harris administration policies meant to increase the producing of electric vehicles in the US are unrealistic.

The Harris campaign has pushed back on previous claims by Trump and Vance, including that the vice president supported a “mandate” for all electric vehicles. The administration’s goal is to have EVs comprise half of all new vehicle sales by 2030.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg and Aaron Pellish contributed to this story.

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