YORK, Pa. — US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was back in Pennsylvania on Wednesday to stump for the re-election campaign of President Joe Biden.
Buttigieg was the keynote speaker for a meeting of the Pennsylvania State Council of Machinists, a political chapter for the larger 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The union represents workers from the Harley-Davidson plant in York.
“This part of Pennsylvania has a proud manufacturing tradition and a proud union tradition," said Sec. Buttigieg. "That’s part of why I’m here.”
Buttigieg touted to union members about the legislative record of the Biden Administration, such as passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package and Inflation Reduction Act. He also reiterated the administration's support for union job growth.
"This is not just policies or bills passing in a building in Washington D.C., it's results, its jobs, it’s growth in a way we haven’t seen in my lifetime," said Buttigieg.
Republicans, like 2024 presidential nominee and former president, Donald Trump, have openly criticized President Biden's work on the economy since his time in office.
"[Biden is] destroying our country with the borders and destroying our country with the worst economy, the worst inflation," said Trump speaking with reporters on May 22.
An April poll from Reuters/IPSOS shows that 41 percent of voters believe Trump is better for the economy, while 34 percent believe that President Biden is better.
Jeffery Chambers, a retired Harley Davidson worker, said the effects of President Biden's policies can already be seen in the local economy.
“I see new water lines going in. I see new gas lines going in. The roads are getting paved," said Chambers.
He hopes further investment into local projects can help promote more union jobs and grow Pennsylvania’s economy.
"Many baseball games are won with singles, they're not all won with homeruns," he said. “It could be a small project here, or small project there. But when you put them together as a whole, it really makes a difference.”