Trump to skip second Republican debate for Detroit prime-time speech

Former President Donald Trump will skip the second Republican presidential primary debate in California next week and instead will travel to Detroit to deliver a speech to an audience that will include current and former union members, according to a source familiar with his plans.

His prime-time remarks will serve as counterprogramming to the September 27 debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

The news comes as the United Auto Workers’ strike has entered its fourth day.

“The auto workers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump,” the former president told NBC News in an interview last week.

“Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in an emailed statement. “We can’t keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don’t have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.”