President Biden on Monday met with union workers in Las Vegas, seeking to bolster his support with a key constituency on the eve of the state’s primary and ahead of the general election.
Biden spoke to members of the Culinary Workers Union at the Vdara Hotel, shaking hands and taking photos. His visit came after the union, which represents hospitality workers in Las Vegas, reached an agreement with several hotel-casinos in the city to avert a potential walkout.
“Wall Street did not build America. The middle class built America. Unions built the middle class. There would be no middle class without the unions,” Biden said in remarks to the workers.
“So I came to say thank you,” he added. “Not just to say thank you for the support that you’ve given me last time out, but to thank you for having the faith in the union.”
Biden’s meeting with culinary union members echoed a similar stop he made in Michigan to speak with members of the United Auto Workers members last week. Both are a nod to the importance of unions for Biden in building a coalition to carry swing states like Nevada and Michigan in the general election.
Biden, who often refers to himself as the most pro-union president in history, won the vote among union members in the 2020 election by 14 percentage points over former President Trump.
Biden stopped in Nevada on Sunday and Monday ahead of the state’s Democratic primary contest on Tuesday. Marianne Williamson is the lone primary challenger who will be on the ballot with Biden after Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) missed the filing deadline.
The president is expected to win easily, just as he did Saturday in South Carolina with 96 percent of the vote.