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Columbus, OH – Yesterday, Toledo UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty slammed Bernie Moreno for “stiffing” Ohio workers and “trying to pull a fast one” over them after he was caught lying about selling Chinese-made cars and shredding evidence to get out of paying his employees the overtime wages they’d earned. 

President Totty discussed an open letter signed by UAW presidents across Ohio calling Moreno out for profiting off of selling Chinese-made cars which contributed to Ohioans losing their jobs and follows UAW members saying they “cannot trust Moreno” because he “sold out American workers” and contributed to “Ohio jobs being shipped overseas.”

LISTEN: UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty On The Rick Smith Show

Rick Smith, WCPT: So I got a hold of a letter that 14 UAW presidents signed on to. A short, but direct letter to Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio, and really to the working people of Ohio, who really this November have a really important decision to make… And to have someone like Bernie Moreno say, you know, he’s going to be tough on China. He’s going to be doing all these things that help working people. And then look at his past. I think you guys laid it out in this pretty, pretty succinctly. There’s a past there isn’t there?

Tony Totty, UAW Local 14 President: There really is, you know, it’s actions, not words that we tell our members to evaluate these politicians by. And Bernie Moreno’s actions are much different than his words. He says he wants to be tough on China, and, you know, he wants to restore American manufacturing. Well, he had his chance. But he was selling those Buick Envisions from China… So it’s your actions, not your words. And Bernie Moreno sold Chinese Buicks, and lied about it, and he doesn’t stop lying about it, and we’re gonna call him on it every single time.

Rick Smith, WCPT: You know, [Moreno] sold [Chinese-made cars], you know, he did it and advertised it for years. And then is now taking the campaign route hoping no one will notice and good on you for pointing it out.

Tony Totty, UAW Local 14 President: Exactly. You know, sadly, I’ve been at six different facilities in the auto industry, because they closed so many of them because of people like Bernie Moreno, you know, not caring, when it benefits them. It’s all about opportunistic activity. [Moreno] doesn’t have a problem profiting from these vehicles made in China… And you know, for this guy to profit off that and then come back and say how it was wrong for China to be making these vehicles and bringing them in. He’s a hypocrite. He’s trying to pull a fast one. But we caught him and we’re not going to let them off the hook.

Rick Smith, WCPT: And good on you. And in the letter, you say lying doesn’t change the truth. Speaking to Bernie Moreno, you said, you sold those cars, you put your own profits before us and contributed to Ohio losing jobs and our plants closing. It’s the kind of thing Ohio workers have seen too many times before, when corporate bosses are too willing to sell out the people who make their companies great in the first place. You said [to Moreno] that there’s nothing you can do now to earn our trust. You’ve shown us who you are. And we plan on making sure our fellow workers and our fellow Ohioans know the truth that given the chance to choose between putting your interests first and ours, you’ll pick yours every time. We need worker-centric people in the Senate, people like Sherrod Brown…

Tony Totty, UAW Local 14 President: In contrast, Bernie Moreno is nowhere to be seen. Don’t tell me you support the US worker when it’s on the line. And we don’t see you… Not only that, already Moreno was sued for stealing wages from workers. How can you be pro-worker when you’re stiffing them in their paycheck?…there’s not a single member that we have that will not know that Bernie Moreno stiffed his workers… We got enough liars and shady people in DC as it is. We don’t have to add another one to that.

SEE ALSO: Ohio Auto Workers Call Out Moreno for Lying About Selling Chinese-Made Envision & Contributing to Job Loss, Plant Closures; WHAT OHIO WORKERS ARE SAYING: Moreno “Sold Out American Workers”; Bernie Moreno “Sold Out American Workers” With “Serious Lie” About Selling Chinese-Made Cars; ICYMI: Labor Leaders Hit GOP Senate Candidate Bernie Moreno Over China-Made Vehicle Sales [Toledo Blade]; Ohio Workers Slam Moreno For Killing Ohio Jobs After Reporting Revealed He Lied About Selling Chinese-Made Cars; Bernie Moreno Again Caught Lying, This Time About Selling Chinese-Made Buick Envision

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Columbus, OH – A new Cleveland.com column details the “ever-changing narrative” Bernie Moreno tells and the “persistent reports of him rewriting his personal and family history” in a calculated attempt to “disguise himself” and pander to Ohioans. Columnist Brent Larkin writes that despite claiming otherwise, Moreno is actually “a product of Colombia’s privileged upper class” which is “inconsistent with the up-by-the-bootstraps image he has tried to project” to Ohioans.

Read More:

Cleveland.com: Get me rewrite! The ever-changing narrative Bernie Moreno offers about himself
Brent Larkin
June 2, 2024

• …Moreno’s campaign has been dogged by persistent reports of him rewriting his personal and family history in an effort to disguise himself…

• Reacting to a May 12 report by The New York Times that detailed how Moreno was a product of Colombia’s privileged upper class, an upbringing inconsistent with the up-by-the-bootstraps image he has tried to project, Moreno offered the absurd suggestion there might be a “tinge of racism” in the examination of his status as an immigrant with a Hispanic background.

• But just because Moreno has a chance of winning the election doesn’t give him permission to rewrite his own history. Contrary to his claims and suggestions otherwise, Moreno:

• Owned a car dealership that knowingly sold cars made in China.

• Was vice chair and chair of the Cleveland State University board of trustees when the board supported funding the Confucius Institute…

• If Moreno didn’t want Ohioans to know his life story, he should have stuck to buying bitcoin and selling cars.

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Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement as Republicans try to ram through partisan legislation to make it harder for Ohioans to pass ballot initiatives — even after Democrats have resolved getting President Biden on the ballot. 

“Despite no longer needing a special session Republicans in the Statehouse are moving forward with their attack on Ohioans ability to hold their government accountable. The party of the $60 million dollar First Energy dark money scandal doesn’t want real campaign finance reform, or they would’ve passed the Ohio Anti Corruption Act. Silencing Ohioans and allowing one of the most corrupt AG’s our state’s ever seen to investigate and harass his constituents with no oversight is outrageous. Democrats will continue to fight for real campaign finance reform and stand up to Republicans who want to ban abortion, end majority rule, and hold onto power at all costs with their illegally gerrymandered districts,” said Chair Walters. 
 

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Columbus, OH – After the New York Times detailed Moreno’s phony “riches-to-rags-to-riches” story, an “unearthed radio interview is shedding light on how long Moreno has been telling that lie” to Ohio voters as part of a “calculated process of self-creation” on the campaign trail. 

Read More:

American Journal: Republican Bernie Moreno’s rags-to-riches story exposed as a lie
Jesse Valentine
May 24, 2024

• A New York Times report from May 12 revealed that Ohio U.S. candidate Bernie Moreno lied about the details of his hardscrabble upbringing. Now, an unearthed radio interview is shedding light on how long Moreno has been telling that lie.

• Moreno, a wealthy Republican who owns a chain of car dealerships, launched his campaign last year. 

• Moreno’s family immigrated to the United States from Colombia when he was five years old. They settled in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Moreno has stated that he, his six siblings, and his parents came to the country “with nothing” and moved into a “two-bedroom apartment.” He described his upbringing as “lower middle class.”

• The New York Times says this is an embellishment. Moreno’s family was wealthy in Colombia and politically connected. His father was an American-educated physician who held positions in the upper echelons of the Colombian government. When Moreno’s family came to the United States in 1971, they bought a three bedroom seaside condominium. 

• Within four months, Moreno’s family relocated to a four-bedroom house in Pompano Beach. The home had a pool and ocean access.

• The New York Times dated Moreno’s misrepresentations to at least 2023. But, as heard in a 2021 interview on the Bruce Hooley Show, Moreno made similar statements during his failed 2022 campaign for the U.S. Senate.

• Hooley asked Moreno about his immigrant background.

• “We moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, moved the seven of us, plus my mom and dad moved into a two bedroom apartment in Pompano Beach, Florida,” Moreno said.

• This narrative is central to Moreno’s campaign pitch. In his campaign launch video, he connects his immigrant experience to his status as a political outsider. 

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