ST. PAUL -- Appearing on a Friday, Aug. 7 virtual campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Minnesota's U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar bashed President Donald Trump's economic record as president, and said Biden is the candidate to get America out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Klobuchar, along with Minnesota state Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent and community leaders, were promoting Biden's "Made in All of America" policy proposal , which promises to boost American manufacturing and give manufacturing workers better benefits through labor laws and collective bargaining.
Klobuchar pointed to current and historic manufacturing in Minnesota, specifically -- iron ore from up North to build steel, Red Wing shoes and Du Nord distillery in Minneapolis -- saying that Minnesotans "tend to have a lot of pride in things made in our state." She said those manufacturing jobs are competitive because of strong unions and labor laws, and the state economy ultimately benefits.
"Look at our (Minnesota's) numbers pre-pandemic compared to like, Wisconsin," Klobuchar said. "We've stood tall and shown that you can build a strong economy while still having strong laws on the books."
Biden's campaign says that his plan would create an additional 5 million new manufacturing jobs in America, in addition to restoring those lost during the coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout. Bethany Winkels, executive director of Minnesota's Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, said Friday that "we need those jobs here in Minnesota and we need those jobs across the nation."
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During the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic depression, roughly 55 million Americans -- nearly 900,000 of them Minnesotans -- have filed for unemployment benefits. Winkels said as the country looks to rebound its economy, it's not only the stock market that has to rebound in order to see a "real recovery," but workers' wages and benefits, as well.
"Over the last 30 years , because of broken labor law, our recoveries have not been working for people," Winkels said. "Working folks lose wages, lose the gains that they’ve made. And while the stock market bounces back up, union members and working people across our nation are still left with stagnated wages."
She said Biden's economic plan would "allow us to have a recovery that is actually for everyone and not just for those at the top."
Klobuchar pointed to Biden's experience as vice president to former President Barack Obama as the country attempted to rebound from the Great Recession, and said, "I can't think of anyone better than Joe Biden to get us out of (the current economic crisis)."
Republican National Committee spokesperson Preya Samsundar challenged Klobuchar and the Biden campaign's promises in a Friday afternoon followup statement, saying Biden's plan would instead squander economic and jobs growth and raise taxes.
"Minnesotans know Klobuchar and Biden aren’t for them and will gladly send President Trump and his promises made, promises kept agenda back to the White House in November," Samsundar said.
Minnesota has the longest running streak in the nation of electing Democratic presidential candidates, but Trump's reelection campaign is eager to snap that streak in November , having come within two percentage points of Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Biden's campaign has recently zeroed in on Minnesota, hiring additional state campaign staff and funneling $280 million into ads in 15 swing states, two of them Minnesota and Wisconsin.
