Well, this is perfect. A Trump campaign ad about how great Donald Trump is for the economy features inspiring footage of him in a hard hat, touring a steel plant … that laid off hundreds of workers this year.
U.S. Steel’s Granite City, Illinois, plant laid off up to 737 workers in April as the coronavirus pandemic hit the auto industry, Vice reports. That was a fraction of U.S. Steel’s overall 2,700 layoffs, with more layoffs and furloughs threatened.
“I feel very confident in President Trump’s ability to get our economy back to where it was, and even better,” a woman claiming to be a small business owner says in the ad. “Before the pandemic, our economy was the best it had ever been, the best in the world. If Donald Trump stays president, my outlook for the future is incredibly optimistic. It’s limitless.”
She speaks over what appear to be stock images and images of Trump touring that U.S. Steel plant. Dan Simmons, the Steelworkers union local president representing that plant, told Vice, “We’ve just been struggling this year, it’s been a constant struggle. it’s been ‘cut cut cut,’ and the price of steel hasn’t been favorable. The relief we got from the 232 [Trump’s steel tariffs] isn’t there now.”
But hey, Trump in that customized hard hat (with his name on the front and 45 on the back) will sure make his base very impressed with what a leader he is. As long as they keep ignoring where he’s leading the country.
