Donald Trump on Friday pledged to roll back the Biden administration's aggressive rules aimed at drastically speeding up the country's transition to electric vehicles, should he get elected in 2024, and urged the United Auto Workers (UAW) union to support his efforts.
"Biden's electric vehicle mandate and his insane fuel economy standards, and there's no economy to it, are forcing companies to drastically raise prices and even eliminate their affordable gas-powered models altogether, which people want," Trump said in a video provided to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump also criticized Biden's regulations mandating stricter emissions standards for future heavy vehicles and the incentive for new EV purchases under the Inflation Reduction Act.
"I will do everything in my power to achieve a drastic reduction in the cost of a new car," Trump said in the video, adding that "prices have spiraled out of control" under "Crooked Joe."
In September, legislators voted 222-190 in favor of the "Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act," aimed at modifying federal law to thwart state initiatives that seek to discontinue the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles and to bar the Environmental Protection Agency from granting waivers that would prohibit such sales, according to the Washington Examiner.
Trump in his video urged the UAW to rally behind his presidential bid.
"We're going to bring back auto manufacturing to the United States of America. Tell your union head, Shawn Fain, tell him not to endorse the Democrats," he said.
He also cautioned against what he characterized as a communist vision.
"The communists want a world where you are dependent on public transportation, which they control, while the rich and powerful cruise around in luxury electric vehicles or other types of cars that are very expensive. They don't care, looking down on the people, looking down on hard workers, and looking down on the people who really built our country," he said.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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