DETROIT — Gerald Allen, a third-generation union auto worker from Pontiac, is the focus of a new campaign ad from Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, amid an ongoing political battle over the future of the auto industry.

Harris' team released the 30-second commercial, which will air on TV in the coming days, on Monday with just over three weeks before the Nov. 5 election. Allen, 50, works at the General Motors Customer Care and Aftersales Facility in Pontiac.

In the ad, Allen says the middle class built the country and Harris has "a history of fighting for the American worker."

"Donald Trump believes that my family doesn’t deserve a livable wage," Allen declares in the ad about the Republican presidential nominee.

Allen was referencing comments Trump made in 2015, when he suggested one way to stop automakers’ expansion to Mexico was by moving some production out of Michigan to lower-wage U.S. states where labor unions are not as powerful.

During the 2024 race, Trump's campaign has touted plans to lower the corporate tax rate and place tariffs on vehicles made outside the U.S. as ways to boost auto manufacturing inside the country. He's also railed against government efforts to promote electric vehicles, contending China has the materials needed for EVs.

“Why are we making a product that they dominate?" Trump said during a town hall in Flint on Sept. 17. "They are going to dominate."

In an interview Monday, Allen said the future for his 4-year-old daughter and the contrast he sees between Harris and Trump inspired him to get involved in the presidential campaign.

Allen referenced auto workers going on strike in 2019, during Trump's first term in the White House.

"I had the experience of being outside while we were standing around burn barrels to keep warm, out on strike, fighting for economic and social justice," Allen said. "Trump, at the time, said nothing, did nothing to show support for the American worker."

Allen said Trump had "trashed" United Auto Workers leaders, while Harris has plans to ensure union workers in the U.S. will continue to lead in the next generation of clean vehicles.

The ad, featuring Allen, is entitled "Out of Michigan." It will air on local broadcast TV and cable programming, according to the Harris campaign.

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