Tlaib declines to endorse Harris at UAW rally in Detroit

DETROIT — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a speaker at a UAW rally in Detroit, declined to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris' bid for the presidency Friday as Democrats made a late appeal to get union voters to the polls.

Tlaib, one of few high-ranking Democrats who have not endorsed Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, was among the speakers for the United Auto Workers' rally on the lawn of Solidarity House in Detroit.

Tlaib encouraged the hundreds of union members not to just get out and vote, but to encourage friends and family to do so as well.

"Don't underestimate the power you all have," she said. "More than those ads, those lawn signs, those billboards, you all have more power to turn out people that understand we've got to fight back against corporate greed in our country."

Tlaib, who is Palestinian American, has been critical of the Biden administration's stance on Israel.

She focused her speech to UAW members on down ballot races, specifically the judicial races, voicing support for Michigan Supreme Court candidates Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberley Thomas in their respective races against Patrick O'Grady and Andrew Fink.

"We've got to make sure that the nonpartisan part of the ballot gets filled in," Tlaib said.

Tlaib is the only member of the so-called far-left "Squad" that has not endorsed Harris. The other three members, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York all endorsed Harris in July, after Biden announced he was dropping out of the race.

Ocasio-Cortez joined Tlaib at the UAW rally, where she gave Harris her full support.

"This is the place where miracles happen," Ocasio-Cortez said, "and this is the place that is going to deliver a Kamala Harris presidency, right here in the state of Michigan."

Ocasio-Cortez drew parallels between her hometown of Bronx, New York, and Detroit.

"I want to be from a place that is proud to get our hands dirty and to knock on a door and to fix our own cars and to make sure we know what it means to be an everyday person," she said. "I love to be from a place where people don't forget where they came from."

She was introduced by UAW President Shawn Fain, who said Harris was the right choice for union workers of all stripes.

"We need people like Kamala Harris at the helm, who are allies with us that will demand deals that serve working class people," he said. "We have to fight corporate greed on every front. From the workplace to the bargaining table to the ballot box."

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