Teamsters President Sean O’Brien stirred controversy when he broke with tradition and spoke at the Republican National Convention, even as his organization said it would not endorse any presidential candidate this campaign season.
“No final decision has been made,” Teamsters spokesperson Kara Deniz told Reuters, adding that any reports to the contrary were pure speculation.
Teamsters have been staunchly Democratic for years, starting with former President Clinton in 1992, until the 2020 election. The move to remain neutral underscores the troubles President Biden faces after a poor debate performance.
The group did not endorse either candidate in the 1996 election, but the Biden campaign reportedly believed Teamster support was almost a sure thing. Last week, UAW President Sean Fein met with the union’s executive committee to address concerns that Biden might not be able to defeat former President Trump.
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O’Brien’s keynote, which showed strong and surprising support from the left-leaning group, highlighted the Teamsters’ support for Republicans without explicitly expressing support.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien speaks during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
“Now, when I won the Teamsters presidency two and a half years ago in the national election, we started to cross party lines,” O’Brien said in a speech at the convention on Monday night. “Teamers have supported Republican candidates in the past, including Richard Nixon, Reagan and George H.W. Bush.”
“But over the past 40 years, the Republican Party has really built a strong relationship with organized labor,” O’Brien said. “There are people in the party who are actively anti-union. That has to change too.”
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Despite these strong claims, O’Brien was the first Teamsters to address the RNC in the organization’s 121-year history, insisting that “Teamers are here to show that we owe nothing to anyone or any political party.” ” pointed out this point.
O’Brien made headlines on Tuesday for labeling Trump “a tough SOB” for his rant on big business after surviving a weekend assassination attempt that some called the worst in recent history. One of the speeches strongly condemning the business.
On January 31, 2024, Republican presidential candidate former President Trump took to the podium to deliver a speech after meeting with leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington, DC. . (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“We need to call the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable exactly what they are: they are the unions of big business,” O’Brien said in his speech.
“There’s another fact about a large multinational company: a single worker has zero power,” he continued. “Only when Americans come together and build a democratic coalition will we win improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions for the railroads… Remember, elites don’t have parties. Elites don’t have a country. Their allegiance to balance sheets and stock prices is at the expense of American workers.
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O’Brien’s decision to speak at the convention deeply upset some Teamsters members, who earlier this year criticized the union president for trying to court both Democrats and Republicans, donating $45,000 to both parties, Axios reported.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump meets with leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at the headquarters in Washington, DC on January 31, 2024 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Teamsters vice president John Palmer, a member of the union since 1987, lambasted O’Brien’s decision, saying it was “unreasonable for any Labor leader to lend legitimacy to a candidate and a party, both of which None of them can be considered legitimate.” Nothing is said to have been done or expected to be done to improve the lives of the workers we are committed to representing. ”
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Anti-union groups also took aim at O’Brien ahead of his speech, accusing O’Brien of being “two-faced” and noting that “a speech does not change the fact that Teamsters essentially donate to the ‘left'” – Wing Reason .
The Republican Party and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had not responded to requests for comment from Fox News Digital as of press time.
