Michigan Lost 5,000 Auto Jobs In July As Whitmer Still Peddles The Debunked Claim That She Created 25,000 Auto Jobs
“Gretchen Whitmer continues living in her delusional fantasy land as she touts job creation numbers that don’t reflect the truth,” said Gustavo Portela, MIGOP Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director. “And the truth is that she has been an objectively bad chief executive officer of Michigan, losing jobs left and right to states that have better business climates. Gretchen Whitmer is bad for business in the state of Michigan, and voters are not only ready to oust her, but to usher in a new era of prosperity by electing Tudor Dixon this November.”
MICHIGAN IS LOSING AUTO JOBS
- Michigan lost 5,000 auto jobs in July.
- Since Gretchen Whitmer took office, Michigan lost 1,700 auto jobs.
- This is a result of a 3,700 job loss in motor vehicle manufacturing and a 1,300 jobs loss of motor vehicle parts manufacturing.
- Ford announced in August that they are cutting 3,000 jobs with a “significant” percentage of them being in Michigan.
- Ford announced in July that they are cutting one-quarter of their salaried workforce, 8,000 jobs, to accommodate the electric vehicle push.
WHITMER IS STILL FALSELY CLAIMING THAT SHE CREATED 25,000 AUTO JOBS
- In a press release last Friday responding to the July jobs report, Whitmer falsely claimed she created 25,000 auto jobs where in fact Michigan has lost auto jobs in Whitmer.
- On Her Campaign Website Whitmer wrote that she “Created nearly 25,000 auto jobs as part of the biggest manufacturing boom in years, ensuring the future of auto manufacturing will be made in Michigan, by Michigan workers.”
- Note: There is not manufacturing boom in Michigan. There are 23,400 fewer manufacturing jobs in the state since Whitmer took office.
- On a different part of her campaign website Whitmer claimed she “secured” 25,000 auto jobs.
- On her official website, Whitmer wrote “Since Governor Whitmer took office, Michigan has announced nearly 25,000 auto jobs.”
WHITMER’S CLAIM HAS BEEN DEBUNKED BY NUMEROUS MEDIA OUTLETS THAT LOOKED INTO THE NUMBERS
- The Detroit Free Press’ Clara Hendrickson wrote analyzed this bogus claim on PolitiFact which rated Whitmer’s baseless assertion that she created 25,000 auto jobs as “mostly false.”
- PolitiFact: “The state has not seen a net gain of 25,000 jobs since Whitmer took office. Data shows Michigan’s auto industry is still recovering from the massive job losses suffered during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
- The Daily Wire: “Gretchen Whitmer Continues To Brag About Creating 25,000 Auto Jobs – But That’s Not True.”
- The Washington Free Beacon: “Michigan Governor Won’t Stop Lying to Voters About Job Gains.”
WHITMER HAS CONSISTENTLY FAILED TO ATTRACT AND RETAIN AUTO MANUFACTURING IN MICHIGAN
- In April, Stellantis announced that they will be opening up a second electric vehicle battery plant and chose Kokomo, Indiana over two locations in Michigan that also bid for the plant.
- The Detroit News: “The investment would mean Michigan has failed to win any battery plants from the transatlantic automaker’s first round of gigafactory investments.”
- Both Monroe County and Wayne County put in a bid for the factory.
- Stellantis chose Indiana because they provided favorable business incentives.
- Whitmer sat on $500 million in cash grants which Republicans in the legislature set aside to “help seal economic development deals.”
- In March, Stellantis and LG announced a $4.1 billion investment in Ontario building electric vehicle batteries in Windsor, just across the river from Detroit creating 2,500 Canadian jobs.
- The Detroit News: “Michigan has missed out on another electric-vehicle battery plant – this time, to its neighbor across the Detroit River.
- In 2021, Whitmer failed to place a bid on a Ford Motor Company electric vehicle expansion.
- Ford decided to open up factories in Tennessee and Kentucky, an $11.4 billion investment which created 11,000 jobs between those states.
- The Detroit News Editorial: “Michigan not ready to compete for EV future.”