On Wednesday, President Joe Biden received a major endorsement from the 3 million-member North America’s Building Trades Unions.
During his remarks on receiving the NABTU endorsement in Washington, the president derided former President Donald Trump, claiming he “looks down on American union workers.”
“Think about the guys you grew up with who you’d like to get into a corner and just give them a straight left,” Biden said.
On Thursday, however, Trump responded to the union’s endorsement without saying a word about Biden.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee made a surprise visit to construction workers and blue-collar workers in New York — and the support for him was palpable.
Shouts of “We want Trump!” and “USA” filled the air when Trump showed up at the Manhattan construction site on the way to the courthouse for his “hush money” trial, the New York Post reported.
Union Workers chanting “We Want Trump” and “USA”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 25, 2024
GOOD MORNING FROM NEW YORK!
Union workers chant “USA” as President Trump visits their construction site 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/KjcZ9UzvX3
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) April 25, 2024
President Trump takes questions from press in New York City, answers DROWNED OUT by enthusiastic cheers from union crowd pic.twitter.com/gFWMCk31yE
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) April 25, 2024
As the footage aired on Fox News, “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade asked, “Could blue-collar voters be the key to turning New York red even if union heads are voting for Democrats?”
Bob Bartels, the business manager of Steamfitters Local 638 in New York and Long Island and, until now, a lifelong Democrat, seemed to think the answer to that question is “yes.”
According to Bartels, a poll he put out of the 9,000 members in his union, Trump is leading Biden by a ratio of 3-to-1.
“We are very tired of the situation with groceries, inflation, gas prices, illegal immigration, crime,” Bartels said. “We are living it every day in New York City.”
UNION WORKERS FOR TRUMP! pic.twitter.com/iYf0oIpEif
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) April 25, 2024
When asked by Kilmeade if there was pressure from union heads to vote a certain way, Bartels responded that he was “probably going to get a lot of phone calls after this interview.”
“But like I’ve told other people, I don’t work for my international union, I work for my members,” he said.
“I see a wave coming,” Bartels added. “Nobody that I speak to likes what’s going on in America right now.”
Will Trump win in November?
“I want to see what’s done for America. I want what’s right for America. I want what’s right for the citizens. And my members want that also,” the manager of the 139-year-old local union continued.
“They are very agitated, they are living week to week, some of them are not affording their bills, and things need to change,” he said, adding that his members had basically told him, “Listen, we want to vote for this guy [Trump].”
“I will do whatever my members want me to,” Bartels said.
Speaking to reporters at the construction site, Trump said he was “going to make a play for New York.”
JUST IN: Donald Trump announces he is going to try to win the state of New York during a visit with Union workers at a construction site in Manhattan.
The workers could be heard saying “We Love Trump” as he made the announcement.
“We’re very close in New York. I understand…… pic.twitter.com/5hqItz5JyH
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 25, 2024
Union endorsements and organizational efforts play a powerful role in shaping how members vote.
As Trump said during his visit with the union workers, “Normally, a Democrat will win New York.”
A recent Siena College Poll showed Biden with a 10-point lead over the former president in the deep-blue state.
However, as Bartels pointed out, people are tired, agitated and worried about putting food on the table, and when that happens, party and even union loyalties tend to take a back seat.
It might be a longshot, but Trump is willing to make the play in New York.
