Trump blames Brown for GM’s decision
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, are feuding over the pending closure of General Motors’ plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
Trump late Tuesday appeared to blame Brown for GM’s decision to cut 1,400 jobs in Lordstown, with the Republican saying “Ohio wasn’t properly represented by their Democratic senator, Senator Brown, because he didn’t get the point across.”
Trump made his comments during an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He did not appear to assign any blame to the state’s junior senator, Republican Rob Portman.
By Tuesday evening, Brown, a Democrat, had fired back on Twitter: “@ realDonaldTrump, I’ll compare my record standing up for Ohio & American workers to yours any day.”
Brown told reporters on a noon conference call Wednesday that he was scheduled to speak later in the day by phone with Trump about the Lordstown plant. However, there was no word by midevening on whether that call occurred.
Brown, who is considering challenging Trump for the White House in 2020, accused the president of giving companies tax breaks to shut down American factories.
He asked why Trump didn’t support a bill that Brown introduced that would have given a $ 3,500 discount, through a government voucher, to customers who bought cars made with American materials assembled in the United States. That bill also specified that companies that ship jobs overseas would lose their tax cut on overseas profits, making it more challenging to ship jobs out of the United States.
Both Brown and Portman have urged GM CEO Mary Barra to invest in the Lordstown facility. In April, Brown wrote a letter to Barra urging her to protect Lordstown, and the two met in Brown’s office on June 5. Portman, meanwhile, met with Barra as recently as Sept. 25 in his D. C. office.
Outgoing Republican Gov. John Kasich, meanwhile, said Wednesday he will continue talking with General Motors officials in attempts to salvage a future for the Lordstown plant amid the “painful loss.”
The plant was the victim of “economic reality” that it produced the slow- selling, low- profit Chevrolet Cruze while the auto industry also faces higher costs due to steel tariffs imposed by Trump, Kasich said.
“We’re not giving up on GM at this point,” Kasich said.
While it would take years, Kasich hopes perhaps GM can retool the plant to produce an indemand vehicle.
Or, perhaps another large manufacturer could adopt the space, the governor said, citing Fuyao’s automotive glass plant, which now employs hundreds, located in a closed GM plant in Moraine in the Dayton area. Brown