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STORY: Trump accused President Joe Biden's push to promote electric vehicle production of killing jobs across the industry, saying, "The auto industry is being assassinated and it makes no difference what you get."

Choosing to skip the second Republican presidential debate scheduled on the same night, Trump repeatedly called for the United Auto Workers union and its leader Shawn Fain to endorse him for next year's presidential election.

"Endorse Trump and you can take a nice two-month vacation, come back and you guys are going to be better than you ever were. Because the other way you won't have a vacation, Shawn. And in a short period of time, you're not going to have a union, you're not going to have jobs, you're not going to have anything."

To date, the UAW has declined to support either presidential candidate.

With Biden joining a picket line on Tuesday to show solidarity with the United Auto Workers union members against the United States' top three carmakers, it highlights the importance both Trump and Biden place on securing support from working-class voters in battleground states such as Michigan in next year's presidential race.