Leo Gerard, the international president of the United Steelworkers and a Sudburian, has made no bones about his dislike for U.S. president elect Donald Trump.
For months in the run-up to the U.S. election, Gerard used his blog at Huffington Post to criticize the billionaire businessperson and media personality.
This week, Gerard was on MSNBC defending the president of an Indianapolis Steelworkers local that the president-elect attacked on Twitter.
Chuck Jones, the president of USW Local 1999, appeared on CNN on Tuesday saying the president-elect "lied his a-- off" in announcing a much-publicized deal with Carrier Corp. Trump claimed he'd saved 1,100 jobs, when the actual number is 800.
The next day, Trump took to his favourite platform, Twitter, to slam Jones, tweeting, "Chuck Jones, who is President of the United Steelworkers 1999, has done a terrible job representing workers. No wonder companies flee the country!"
When called to respond, Leo Gerard appeared incredulous that he had to defend the president of a local from social media attacks by the man who is about to lead United States.
"I'm terribly disappointed and I'm also angry," Gerard said to Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC. "We've got someone who is just about to become president of the United States, most important job on the planet, and he is busy tweeting about a local union president."
