By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-08 06:45:39 | Updated at 2024-10-08 11:50:43
5 hours ago
The president of the powerful Teamsters union, with 1.3 million members, has blasted the Democratic Party describing how he believes the party has 'f***** us over for the last 40 years.'
Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien spoke with comedian Theo Von on his This Past Weekend podcast to which he has more than 3 million subscribers.
O’Brien described himself as a Democrat but believes the party may no longer be the right one to represent the working class.
'I'm a Democrat but they have f***** us over for the last 40 years and for once we're standing up as a union saying what the f*** have you done for us?' O'Brien said in scathing remarks.
Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien has blasted the Democratic Party describing how he believes the party has 'f****d us over for the last 40 years.'
A letter from the union’s executive board revealed there was a split in the membership, and that there was erosion in support for the Democrats after Joe Biden stepped back in July
'I'm getting attacked from the left you know and since I've been in office over two and a half years we've given the Democratic machine $15.7 million.
'We've given Republicans about $340,000 truth be told, so it's like you know people say the Democratic party is the party of working people, but they're actually bought and paid for by big tech,' O'Brien explained.
'Now you've got the Republicans who are now saying "Hey we want to be the working class party!" and okay you've got a great opportunity right now to do that.
'As for the Democrats, if 60 percent of our members aren't supporting you the f*****g system is broken and you need to fix it. Stop pointing fingers at the Teamsters Union and look in the mirror,' he said bluntly.
Earlier in the podcast O'Brien explained how he believed the sands might be shifting with the GOP now vying to be the party to represent workers.
'It's funny you know, before you always had Democrats fighting for working people and now we kind of see a switch where working people feel like they've been left behind by the Democratic Party and the Republicans say they want to be the party to represent the working class,' O'Brien said.
In July, O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention days after Harris met with union leaders
Former president Donald Trump looks on as Sean O'Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters speaks at the RNC in July
Sean O'Brien is see on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention in July
'They have an opportunity to do it but you know I think we've got a huge opportunity to organize. We've been exposing them and we've been fighting. And you know our biggest our biggest opponent right now is Amazon and we're gonna crush them.'
Last month, the powerful union elected not to endorse either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for president, in a stunning blow to the Democrats.
The move came just weeks after O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention, and days after Harris met with union leaders.
A letter from the union’s executive board revealed there was a split in the membership, and that there was erosion in support for the Democrats after Joe Biden stepped back in July.
Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien is seen meeting with President Joe Biden in April 2022. The union membership was a fan of Biden but appears to be less keen on Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris met with rank-and-file Teamsters from around the country last month. The union decided not to endorse either candidate
‘President Joe Biden won the support of Teamsters voting in straw polls at local unions between April-July prior to his exit from the race,’ the statement said, pointing to polling data of members.
‘But in independent electronic and phone polling from July-September, a majority of voting members twice selected Trump for a possible Teamsters endorsement over Harris’
‘The union’s extensive member polling showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among the membership for President Trump.’
That left the leadership of the union that includes truckers and a range of other professions with the difficult position of selecting a candidate who didn’t have strong backing from its own membership.
The union, which is more conservative than many other unions that align with Democrats, hasn't backed a Republican since 1988. It similarly did not endorse in 1976 or in 1996 during Bill Clinton's reelection campaign.
O’Brien spoke with comedian Theo Von, left, on his This Past Weekend podcast to which he has more than 3 million subscribers
The union, which is more conservative than many other unions that align with Democrats, hasn't backed a Republican since 1988. Union President Sean O'Brien is pictured in July 2023
The high-impact move comes in an election where rust belt battlegrounds are critical. Public polling shows Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all with strong union membership, up for grabs.
It is the only one of the nation's top ten unions not to back Harris.
According to data released by the union, rank-and-file picked Trump over Harris by 60-34 percent.
The announcement was the latest labor move in a closely fought election.
Biden made a point of marching with striking UAW workers earlier this year. And Trump drew controversy with an approving comment to Elon Musk on the X platform when Musk spoke about firing striking workers.
The Teamsters also hit both candidates for failing to pledge to back them on core issues.
'After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris—and found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee,' it said.
