- The Harris-Trump debate Tuesday night is sparking conversations about the economy
- Michigan's auto industry could look different depending on who wins in November
- Video shows auto workers and an analyst speaking about what the future may hold under each candidate
The auto industry is the engine that drives Michigan's economy but it could change depending on who wins the White House in November.
Former president Donald Trump painted a picture of doom for the auto industry during his visit to Potterville last month.
VIDEO: DONALD TRUMP VISITS EATON COUNTY TO TALK INFLATION, ECONOMY AND MANUFACTURING
"[The Biden-Harris Administration] will take every single job. You're not going to have any auto workers within two years, maybe three years. Nobody's going to be making cars here."
But the current administration has received credit for walking along the picket lines with United Auto Workers, says president Shawn Fain.
"Plants were in trouble and they went to work to try to help us," Fain said. "They're also creating jobs in this country, something Trump didn't do in the auto industry."
But Dr. Tim Nash, the lead economic researcher and director of the McNair Center at Northwood University, believes Michigan's investment into electric vehicles may be premature.
Nash says Michigan and the U.S. isn't fully equipped with the infrastructure they need to support electric vehicles and adds that it could possibly cost jobs.
"I think that American manufacturing in Michigan will decline," Nash said. "UAW workers are going to find that in five years if we move heaily towards electric vehicles... there will be fewer UAW workers employed in Michigan."
But Derek Braswell remains optimistic. Braswell owns an EV charging station in Lansing called Evergetic. Braswell believes Harris will give electric vehicles a better shot of succeeding than Trump.
VIDEO: LCC PROGRAM TRAINING TOMORROW'S WORKERS ON EVS
"I'm looking for a rapid adoption rate with either one," Braswell said. "With VP Harris I think it'll be a much swifter one and a much smoother one."
Meanwhile the former president believes that there's still work that needs to be done on electric vehicles.
"We want to build gasoline-propelled cars, but we also want to build hybrids and... electric cars," Trump said. "I'm all for electric cars but not all of them because they really don't go far yet.
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