ST. CLAIR SHORES, Michigan — “Attention auto workers: Kamala Harris wants to end all gas powered cars,” a new Trump campaign ad warns Michigan voters. “Crazy, but true!”
Only it’s not true, or at least, not completely. The attack line is a distortion of two policies the vice president and President Joe Biden have pursued: stricter tailpipe pollution standards for newly built cars along with hefty subsidies to produce the new generation of electric vehicles in the U.S.
It’s part of a broader critique Trump and Republicans have leveled at Democrats this election cycle, claiming they support an “EV mandate” that will devastate the U.S. auto industry and open the floodgates to Chinese-made cars. While U.S. tariffs on Chinese vehicles — which Trump first levied and Biden increased — have effectively kept them out of the market, the anti-EV rhetoric is gaining traction in this crucial swing state at the center of American car culture.
The Trump campaign’s decision to invest nearly $1 million to air his auto ad across Michigan is just one indicator that Republicans are trying to capitalize on a backlash against electric vehicles in a bid to win the Great Lakes state. Statewide polling this summer showed that Michigan voters disapprove of Biden-Harris administration efforts to push consumers toward electric vehicles by 55 percent to 40 percent — even without any mention of a “mandate.” And there are signs that it’s become a topic of conversation among voters in Macomb County, a swing region in this Rust Belt state that includes many of Detroit’s northern suburbs.
