Former President Trump blasted President Biden’s push to rapidly transition the U.S. auto market to electric vehicles, saying his environmental extremism is “killing Michigan.”
“Biden is a catastrophe for Michigan and his environmental extremism is heartless and disloyal and horrible for the American worker and you’re starting to see it,” Trump told Oakland County Republicans on Sunday.
“Driven by his ridiculous regulations, electric cars will kill more than half of U.S. auto jobs and decimate the suppliers that they decimated already — decimate the suppliers and it’s going to decimate your jobs and it’s going to decimate more than anybody else, the state of Michigan,” he continued. “It’s going to be decimation, it’s going to be at a level that the people can’t even imagine.”
In April, the Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency released draft federal emission standards that would aim for about 67 percent of new U.S. passenger vehicle sales to be electric vehicles by 2032.
“These actions will accelerate the ongoing transition to a clean-vehicle future, tackle the climate crisis and improve our air quality for communities across the country,” EPA administrator Michael Regan said during a press conference in April.
Trump said the country that stands to gain the most from such a rapid transformation of the U.S. auto industry is China.
“The push for all electric cars, it’s killing the United States, it’s killing Michigan and it’s a total vote for China,” Trump said during his hour-long address.
He also took a shot at Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s approval of more than $700 million in economic development incentives for a battery plant near Big Rapids.
“The governor of your state is now giving away hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of billions of Michigan taxpayer dollars to Chinese companies and one in particular, Gotion, to build batteries in Michigan,” Trump said. “That sounds good, but the money’s going to Chinese companies, and then they’re gonna leave, they’re planning to take our money and then they say ‘bye bye, you stupid fools.’”