By BERRY CRAIG
Alliance for Retired Americans
Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Dustin Reinstedler is looking forward to that first debate between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee who just earned the AFL-CIO endorsement.
“If there’s one thing that bothers and gets under the skin of Donald J. Trump, it’s a strong woman,” he added. "If you want a preview of how that debate will go, watch how Kamala Harris handled Atty. Gen. Barr and Jeff Sessions."
He was referring to Senate hearings when Trump was president in which Harris, then a California senator, clearly got the best of Barr and Sessions, Trump's first AG. (Also check out Harris shredding Brett Kavanaugh, one of Trump's Supreme Court nominees, during other Senate hearings.)
Reinstedler, too, praised President Joe Biden who announced on Sunday that he was pulling out of the presidential race against Trump, who wants his old job back. He said Biden's withdrawal "shows what a true patriot he is and that he was willing put put the country above himself."
The labor leader favorably compared Biden to Roosevelt as pro-union presidents. "I’ve studied [Roosevelt] and he certainly did great things for America. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I believe that FDR saved America at that point. I would compare what Biden did coming out of COVID to that-maybe a little bit different situation but still comparable.”
Reinstedler also pointed out that when Biden refers to creating jobs, he often stresses "union jobs."
Said Reinstedler: "Very seldom do you hear a politician or elected official actually use the ‘U-word.’ They’re happy to come and talk to you, and they're happy to take your money and have your members’ votes. A lot of them kind of talk out of both sides of their mouth--they cater to big business, and they also like to talk that union talk, but to hear Biden actually say the word ‘union’--and to see Biden actually show up on a picket line and to see Biden’s acts and legislation signed into laws that directly benefitted union workers, the man’s 100-percent union.”
Trump is less than zero percent union, according to Reinstedler. “I know there’s no such thing, but he’s a negative percent in my opinion.”