Hakeem Jeffries to visit striking auto workers ‘in solidarity’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday he was headed to Detroit to show support for striking autoworkers.

"I'll be heading to Detroit a little later on today," the New York Democrat said on ABC's "This Week." "Looking forward to standing in solidarity with the United Auto Workers who are fighting for the fundamental American dream."

Labor unions have long been a key constituency of the Democratic Party, giving the current strike a political dimension heading into the 2024 presidential election.

"Incredible economic prosperity has been generated for the corporations," Jeffries told host Jonathan Karl in defending the decision of the United Auto Workers to call a strike against the Big Three automakers.

He added: "I think it’s only fair that everyone share in those record profits in the prosperity that has been created. That’s a fundamental American principle. That’s why we were able to build in the aftermath of World War II the great American middle class."

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) also expressed solidarity with the rank-and-file.

"We shouldn't be politicizing this; we should be listening to what the UAW workers want," he said. "They want us to tackle climate, they want EVs, they want battery plants. But they want those jobs to pay well, they want those jobs to be union jobs. And that's what we are fighting for."