Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said the strong economy was not because of President Donald Trump, but instead it is because people are demanding it though protest movements.
Partial transcript as follows:
TAPPER: So President Trump’s win in Michigan is one of the main reasons he’s president and when it comes to pitching voters here on re-election, economy is better than —
TLAIB: Really because GM is leaving.
TAPPER: But the unemployment rate drops from 5.4% to 4.1% and the GDP has increased 8%. Why should Michigan voters turn over control of the economy to Democrats when it is doing better under President Trump.
TLAIB: It is not handing over to anybody. It is making sure they become priority before anybody else. The numbers that come out, that is not what is felt here because, yeah, they’re low wage part-time jobs.
TAPPER: Wages are going up.
TLAIB: They are going up because people are demanding it go up. Not because Donald Trump wants them to go up. Does that make sense? Because the movement of fight for 15 is growing. The movement to hold corporations accountable is growing and because of movement work. Not because of who is president of the United States. Transformation from the civil rights movement to the labor rights movement didn’t happen because somebody introduced a bill or whoever was president and it happens because people here in the county, Wayne county and Detroit, they demanded it change. So you see a movement of saying no more. One job should be enough. That we should be pushing back against this kind of form of putting corporations and giving them the tax giveaways versus putting in the pockets of American people.
TAPPER: But the economy is doing better in Michigan under President Trump.
TLAIB: But I don’t put President Trump as the reason. It’s because of the people demanding it. If you don’t think the labor rights movement is growing, especially in the service industry, there was a strike downtown from security officers saying we deserve health care.
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