Senator-elect Bernie Moreno of Ohio plans to launch a major push in the U.S. Senate to force the foreign company Stellantis to “repatriate” Chrysler into American hands, he told Breitbart News exclusively.
Moreno, an America First Republican closely aligned with President-elect Donald Trump, just won the U.S. Senate race against outgoing Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Nov. 5. Moreno owned a chain of auto dealerships before his foray into politics, and his comments here about his plans to push Stellantis to sell Chrysler back into American ownership again could send shockwaves throughout the international corporate auto universe—but are probably music to the ears of autoworkers in Ohio and throughout the upper midwest.
Chrysler, one of the big three automakers alongside Ford and Chevrolet, was given back during former President Barack Obama’s administration to the Italian company Fiat—which then used the profits from that when the industry bounced back to purchase other auto companies in Europe and rolled them all into the broader company Stellantis. Stellantis is headquartered in the Netherlands.
“If you go back to the 2008 presidential task force on the automotive industry, led by Obama, Obama basically did something you never thought would be possible in America,” Moreno said in a phone interview last week. “He handed Chrysler Corporation—they make Jeeps, Dodge Rams, and more—he handed the entire company to an Italian automaker called Fiat. He just said, ‘Here’s the whole company for nothing.’ He handed it to them for nothing. The company is primarily owned and controlled by an Italian oligarch family, the Agnelli family and their heirs. When the economy recovered, Fiat and the Agnellis made a fortune because, again, they were handed Chrysler for free. Then they used those earnings to buy Peugeot, Citroen, and created a monster company called Stellantis, headquartered in the Netherlands.”
Moreno said these foreign business leaders who control Chrysler now are crushing American workers, and as such he aims to lead an effort to force Stellantis to “repatriate” Chrysler into American hands.
“Here’s the punchline, what are they doing? They’re shutting down production of Jeeps in Toledo and laying off American workers,” Moreno said. “Most of the executives who used to be Americans are now gone and replaced by people from Europe. They now run what used to be an American car company. I think one of the things we should be doing is forcing Stellantis to repatriate Chrysler Corporation and have it be owned by Americans again instead of being owned by a multinational corporation that doesn’t give a crap about the U.S. and is happy to lay off our workers and screw over our communities. We need Chrysler Corporation back in American hands, and I’m going to fight like hell over the next six years to make sure that happens.”
This push is part of a bigger plan Moreno is embarking on to create what he calls an “Automotive Manufacturing Renaissance” in America, with Trump at the helm. That push to bring Chrysler back to the U.S. is step five in his five-step plan.
Step one, he said, is to end electric vehicle subsidies.
“Number one, we have to stop getting ripped off—the taxpayers—by subsidizing these electric vehicles with $7500, which by the way goes to any millionaire buying any car from any place if they lease them,” Moreno said. “So when they passed the Inflation Reduction Act they put that loophole in there. Bill Gates can go out and buy an electric Rolls Royce and get a $7500 check from the government—that’s obscene. It’s gross that we’re even doing that. All these incentives have got to go—they’re going to go away, as President Trump put that in his Agenda 47 plan. So we need to get rid of the incentives.”
Step two, Moreno argued, is working with former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY)–Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)–to eliminate rules and regulations that essentially acted to create an electric vehicle mandate under outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Number two, with Lee Zeldin’s great leadership at the EPA, we need to get rid of the rules that in effect created a mandate for electric vehicles,” Moreno said.
Step three is then using the might of the federal government to stop California liberals in Sacramento from dictating emissions standards, which Moreno argues drives up costs of cars.
“Number three is we have to stop allowing California to dictate emissions requirements for the whole country,” Moreno said. “As a result of these ridiculous regulations have [sic] California, cars have become extremely expensive—the average price of a new car is $50,000. The average used car is $28,000. All of this is due to onerous regulations our car companies have to follow, so we’re going to get rid of that.”
And step four, of course, is pushing car companies to build in America, not in other countries like Mexico or Canada.
“Number four is how do we incentivize car companies to, instead of going to Mexico or Canada—by the way, they’re not going to Canada for cheap labor, so why are we making so many cars in Canada that we could be making here in the United States of America employing Americans,” Moreno said. “It’s not just the factory, it’s all the suppliers and vendors that provide great opportunity for great high-paying middle class jobs.”
More from Moreno’s latest interview with Breitbart News is forthcoming soon.