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Donald Trump led with his chin Monday night, exposing himself to immediate counter-punches from Ford Motor Co. and the auto workers' union.
“Ford is leaving," the Republican presidential nominee claimed in an opening statement at the first fall debate. "You see that their small car division [is] leaving. Thousands of jobs leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio. They’re all leaving. And we can’t allow it to happen anymore."
The UAW, which backs Hillary Clinton, and Ford tweeted within minutes to dispute the job loss claim.
Fact Check: @Ford is not moving jobs out of Michigan. Our agreement secures future product commitments for affected plants. #Debates2016
— UAW (@UAW) September 27, 2016
Ford has more hourly employees and produces more vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker. pic.twitter.com/k15cqknsvX
— Ford Motor Company (@Ford) September 27, 2016
Trump twisted a nugget of truth, but was totally wrong about the loss of jobs.
Ford is opening a plant in Mexico and will produce the Focus and C-Max there in 2018, Metro Times points out . The Wayne Assembly Plant will switch from those models to build otherswitjhout job cuts, the automaker says.
"Ford Spent the Presidential Debate Correcting Trump on Twitter," says a headline at Fortune magazine's site. "The Ford team spent the remainder of the debate tweeting responses and fact checks," writes Kirsten Korosec, adding:
A Ford spokesman elaborated in an email after the debate, saying the company has more hourly employees and produces more vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker. Ford employs 85,000 U.S. workers.
