Striking Boeing workers in Seattle gave a resounding response to a Senate Democrat who thought to criticize former President Donald Trump in a rally speech this week.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) was booed as she spoke disparagingly of Trump at the Seattle rally, getting a negative reaction from the crowd when she blamed the Republican presidential nominee for housing shortages.
“Housing everywhere in the United States of America is expensive as all get out. We haven’t built enough supply,” Cantwell, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation said while speaking to striking members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 751.
(Video Credit: Fox News)
“I was in a key negotiation five years ago to get a bipartisan bill that would have built millions, hundreds of thousands, up to a million units by now, but Donald Trump came in and squashed that deal,” continued Cantwell, who is up for re-election.
The mention of Trump’s name set off a wave of booing from the crowd.
Nevertheless, she persisted.
“My point is this,” she tried to speak over the sound. “Everywhere in America, we need more affordable housing.”
While some may have argued that the negative crowd response was in agreement with Cantwell’s criticism of the former president, IAM 751 union member Dan Zahlman shed some light on the moment.
“When you first hear that audio clip, it appears that they’re booing whatever Donald Trump had done. The exact opposite is true,” Zahlman said in an interview with “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Seattle.
“She was trying to interject some left-wing radical politics into what is a very rare labor opportunity for IAM members to be able to try to make real gains in their retirement benefits. And that’s not what we were there for. She did not have a friendly audience to spew that at,” he explained Tuesday.
“I don’t think she realizes… but there is a tremendous amount of Donald Trump support from union membership,” Zahlman said. “All anybody has to do is go through a union parking lot at a Boeing plant, and you’ll see a lot of Trump stickers on bumpers.”
Cantwell was joined by Rep. Pramila Jayapal at the rally with striking Boeing workers. She and three other lawmakers penned a letter to Boeing’s CEO, Boeing, IAM District 751 president, and the IAM District W24 president.
Reaching an agreement was seen as paramount to “Boeing’s future, the aerospace economy of the Pacific Northwest, and the nation,” according to the letter from Cantwell, Patty Murray, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Representatives Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Rick Larsen, ranking member of the House Transportation & Infrastructure.
“We remain committed to finding a resolution to end the strike. We will work with the union when they are ready to bargain an agreement that recognizes our employees and preserves our company’s future,” a Boeing spokesperson told KOMO News.
As for Cantwell’s speech before the striking members, social media users thought she deserved the response she triggered.
As a Machinist and on strike, I can attest to the rank-and-file booing Cantwell was directed at Her. There are more Trump supporters on the floor than those for Harris.
— Bacon_Daddy (@Jagd1258) October 16, 2024
I love the look on her face.
— Bad Buddhist (@turningwheel79) October 16, 2024
Our politicians are such idiots they can’t even do politics right. Striking machinists don’t want to hear about your corrupt housing tax credit or you bash Trump.
— Spikels ☠️ (@Spikels) October 17, 2024
Seattle waking up!!
— Shireen Singh (@ShireenAnya) October 16, 2024
Why is she bring up housing to striking workers who build airplanes?
— Dave Black (@blackda821) October 16, 2024
That didn’t go well for her.
— Thomas Whitehead (@tomcnohonyc) October 16, 2024
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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