February 14, 2016
Somebody casually scrolling through PhillyMag's website Sunday evening might have noticed something rather odd.
At the top of the magazine's "Most Popular" section was a story from nearly a month ago. The article, published on Jan. 20 and written by the magazine's business editor, Jared Shelly, was about how a Northeast Philadelphia auto parts re-manufacturer was laying off more than 1,300 employees.
Cardone Industries, according to Shelly, is cutting down its Philly workforce from 2,500 to 1,000 employees, with the jobs moving to a facility in Mexico.
So, why was this story getting so many hits weeks later? Because Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he's coming to the rescue.
Trump reposted the article on his Facebook page Saturday, writing the following:
1,300 Layoffs for Northeast Philly’s Cardone Industries. The auto parts re-manufacturer is moving a division to Mexico. I am the ONLY one who can fix this! We need to keep jobs- here in AMERICA!
The real estate mogul and reality television star has more than 5 million likes on Facebook, and his post about the Cardone Industries story has gotten more than 67,000 likes and 12,000 shares.
Shelly noted how Trump's post created the web traffic boost Sunday, questioning how exactly the candidate planned to fix the sad situation:
Trump has been telling anybody who will listen that he's the best candidate to stop companies from shipping jobs overseas. How exactly will he do that? Can he magically get manufacturers to stop their labor price wars, and get consumers to stop being so price-conscious? I reached out to his campaign but didn't immediately hear back. We'll keep you posted.
Shelly added that a Cardone spokesperson said the company will remain headquartered in Philly despite the jobs moving to Mexico.
