Vice President JD Vance visited Nucor Steel Berkeley in South Carolina over the weekend. As seen in the video below, Vance said, “The product this company and other steel makers create form the literal foundation of American society.”
Vance addressed a crowd of Nucor employees outside of the beam mill and said: “We’re gonna be fighting for you, fighting your jobs and for the future we want to build for your family.”
Note: Nucor, which is the largest structural fabricator in the United States, has 7,000 employees working across 40 mills, none of which are unionized.
The products created by our steel manufacturers form the very foundation of our country.
Under President Trump, we are going to rebuild our nation with skilled American labor and innovation. The New Golden Age of America is here! pic.twitter.com/x8hLlGN8qg
— Vice President JD Vance (@VP) May 5, 2025
The union policy divide persists between largely anti-union Republicans and pro-union Democrats, despite MAGA’s inroads with working class voters. That Vance would choose to visit a non-union manufacturing company, especially in the steel industry, is on brand for the GOP, as MAGA strives to position itself as a pro-worker party while remaining largely against unions.
JD Vance tours Nucor Steel Berkeley in Huger South Carolina pic.twitter.com/fgmDUIJmlJ
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) May 1, 2025
Vance follows in the footsteps of then-candidate Trump visiting a non-union auto parts shop on the campaign trail in Michigan in 2023, at the same time then-President Joe Biden walked the picket line in Michigan with strikers from the United Auto Workers (UAW).
[NOTE: In March 2024, the United Steelworkers Union (USW), which represents 850,000 workers in metals, mining, rubber and other industries, joined the UAW and the AFL-CIO in endorsing incumbent Joe Biden for president. Biden had just opposed the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan.]
Two days prior to Vance’s visit, Nucor Chairman, President and CEO Leon Topalian praised President Trump’s steel tariffs during an appearance on Mad Money with Jim Cramer, and on May 1, Topalian reportedly sold $4,114,921 worth of shares (34,238 units at $120.19), decreasing direct ownership by 17% to 162,993 units. Topalian last sold Nucor stock ($1.86M worth) on November 7, 2024. Nucor boasts that it returned $2.7B to shareholders in 2024 through dividends and buybacks.