Ford CEO says EVs ‘have become a political football’ as Biden’s support with United Auto Workers slips in new survey

The auto manufacturing industry has been a key political target among both Democrat and Republican candidates this election cycle, with President Biden mandating electric vehicles under the guise of combatting "climate change" while former President Donald Trump, who has a pro-fossil fuels stance, warns the mandate will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs.

A recent statewide survey in Michigan, a swing state that Biden won in 2020, shows that union auto workers have flipped their support for Biden to Trump with polls revealing that 46 percent said they will support Trump in 2024, while 43 percent are in favor of Biden, according to Daily Mail.

Michigan union auto workers (UAW) have been striking outside the Ford, GM, and Stellantis auto manufacturing facilities over job security and benefits after the Biden administration mandated that 50 percent of vehicle sales must be electric by 2030, which has already caused mass layoffs and billions of dollars lost in profit.

"They [EVs] have become a political football," said Ford Motor Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley, who announced earlier this year that the company is on track to lose more than 3 billion dollars in electric vehicle investments since the mandates were enacted. Farley also announced that Ford will be laying off more than 1,000 employees this year, while the company was forced to lay off more than 3,000 in 2022.

Former President Donald Trump, who is the GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election, traveled to Michigan in support of auto workers last month and slammed Biden's electric vehicle mandate as a "government assassination" of American industries. Trump vowed to repeal the mandate if elected in 2024.

"Biden, his mandate isn’t a government regulation. It’s a government assassination of your jobs and of your industry," Trump told autoworkers. "The auto industry is being assassinated."

Donald Trump called out American auto manufacturers for agreeing to the mandate and explained that it would force the industry to close, giving power to China as the CCP ships EVs to the United States. Trump called on auto workers to vote for him and "join the ultimate strike against the globalist class."

"For autoworkers, Biden’s forced transition is a transition to hell. It's a transition to unemployment and to inflation," Trump said during the rally.

In addition to Trump, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he does not support Biden's EV mandate and likened the purchase of electric vehicles to being motivated by a "psychological insecurity," the outlet reports.

In other news surrounding EV mandates, Driving Force Action announced in a Monday press release that it is launching a campaign in Virginia that aims to drum up support for Senate candidates in the state who would help Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) repeal Virginia's ban on the new sales of gas-powered vehicles starting in 2035, which mirrors laws passed in California and other states.