WASHINGTON, D.C.(WNAX)- President Joe Biden spent time in Bellville, Michigan yesterday walking the picket line with striking United Auto Worker union members as they strike against auto manufacturers.

Biden’s decision to join the workers on the picket line — a first for a sitting president — reflected a break from the presidential tradition of neutrality during labor disputes.

South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds found the President’s participation in the event a surprise.

While the White House has been toeing a careful line during the strike, voicing support for the workers and a pay increase but declining to specifically endorse the union demands, Rounds thinks the message sent by walking with the striker’s takes the president out of the middle of the road on the issue.