White House Photo
President Barack Obama came to Detroit to sing the praises of the strong auto industry, which he likes to take much credit for because of the bailout he backed.
He toured the North American International Auto Show, looking at cars and then delivered a speech at the United Auto Workers-General Motors Center for Human Resources on the city’s riverfront, according to Michael Martinez and Michael Wayland of The Detroit News.
“There’s only one Detroit,” he said said during his speech, talking how proud he was of Detroit. “And if you’re looking for the world’s best cars and the workers who make those cars, you need to be in Detroit, Michigan. That’s why I’m here.”
He explained that he was going to have to give up the presidential limo, a Cadillac, and was in the market for a new car, the News reports. Some UAW members and others in attendance shouted suggestions for union-made cars and trucks.
“What is true of Detroit is true of the country,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I came here. . . . I want people to remember how far we’ve come.”
Then he took a shot at Republican candidates, according to The News:
“When you hear people, I won’t say who, but when you hear people claiming that America’s declined, they don’t know what they’re talking about. They’re peddling fiction during a political season.”
