You may recall that about five months ago Donald Trump visited a Boeing factory in Charleston, South Carolina where he confidently announced, “We are going to fight for every last American job,” and indicated that he’d sort of like to fuck a plane (they age so well!). On that day in February, Trump also bellowed, “jobs is one of the primary reasons I’m standing here today as your President, and I will never, ever disappoint you.”
Well, sorry to disappoint, but on Thursday workers at that Charleston plant were informed they’d be facing layoffs. The airline manufacturer said they’d cut, “fewer than 200 people,” across several of the city’s factories, claiming it needed to “reduce costs to be more competitive.” According to the Washington Post, laid-off workers have yet to be notified.
Trump didn’t visit the factory to launch any specific economic policy aimed at job creation, instead the visit was intended as a “celebration” of jobs. “We’re…here today to celebrate jobs. Jobs!” proclaimed Trump.
According to the Post, Boeing has been planning to downsize for a while, but this didn’t deter Trump from making the symbolically inappropriate decision of celebrating job creation there—why would it??! Per the Post:
“In December, Boeing said it planned to cut jobs this year because of a dropping demand for new planes. The company revealed it would decrease production of the Boeing 777 by 40 percent in 2017.
By March, the company had accepted about 1,880 voluntary lay-offs from employees in Washington state. Then nearly 500 workers near Seattle received involuntary layoff notices in April, according to the Seattle Times.”
Employees at the South Carolina plant aren’t unionized, according to CNN. The White House has yet to comment on this latest round of layoffs.