Sen. Joe Donnelly (D., Ind.) praised President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday for helping keep Carrier Corp. from moving about 1,000 jobs from Indiana to Mexico.
MSNBC's Thomas Roberts asked Donnelly about the criticism some Democrats have received for criticizing the deal the incoming Trump administration made with Carrier and what Democrats need to do to win back working class voters who supported Trump and Republicans in the 2016 elections. Donnelly called Carrier's decision to keep jobs in Indiana a win for Trump and working class families.
"We need to stand with our working class folks every single time, and this isn't just a win for Donald Trump; it's a win for working class families who are going back to work," Donnelly said.
Donnelly also said Trump's past speeches about imposing tariffs to deter companies from outsourcing to Mexico played a role in Carrier keeping its jobs in Indiana.
"President-elect Trump's efforts on putting in a tariff, I think that also got their attention," Donnelly said.
Donnelly will likely be a target of the GOP in 2018, when he is up for reelection and Democrats will be defending more seats than Republicans from challengers. Trump won Indiana in the 2016 presidential election, and Vice President-elect Mike Pence is the governor of the state.