Nothing says "we believe in our future" quite like handing $20 billion back to shareholders. That's the read from Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who took a swing at General Motors (GM) over its massive share buyback, warning the move will hurt the company's workers.

Buybacks Should Be Illegal, El-Sayed Says

In a post on X, El-Sayed didn't mince words. "GM just announced the biggest stock buyback in automotive industry history," the Democratic Senate candidate said.

He argued that "instead of investing in their workers or new product lines," executives were "robbing from the future" while lining up major paydays for themselves and shareholders today. His conclusion was blunt: "Stock buybacks should be illegal."

The United Auto Workers union piled on too, releasing an official statement on Tuesday that argued the buyback money could instead go toward better employee benefits, domestic manufacturing operations and retirement options for workers.

Here's the backdrop. Alongside its earnings report, GM announced a $20 billion buyback of its shares, leaving 849 million outstanding shares in the market. The company posted revenue of $50.02 billion for Q3, up nearly 3% year over year and ahead of the $48.53 billion that Wall Street had penciled in.

GM also said it's leaning into self-driving tech, expanding its Super Cruise system to the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks. The company expects Super Cruise subscriptions to cross 850,000 by the end of 2026.

Mary Barra Is Confident in GM's New Trucks

On the earnings call with investors, CEO Mary Barra talked up GM's next-generation trucks. Her pitch: rivals have been throwing incentives at their products for years, but GM's trucks have held market share on quality instead.

CFO Paul Jacobson backed her up, noting that the company's incentives on trucks were "several hundred basis points lower than prior truck changeovers" as the trucks move from one generation to the next.

Price Action: General Motors shares were down 0.63% at $75.62 during premarket trading on Thursday.