International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien railed against Democrats in a recent podcast interview, arguing the party has “f***ed us over” for the last few decades as rank-and-file union members prepare to vote for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’m a Democrat, but they have f***ed us over for the last 40 years,” O’Brien told comedian Theo Von on his This Past Weekend podcast on Monday.
“And for once, and not all of them, but for once, we’re standing up as a union, probably the only one right now, saying, ‘What the f*** have you done for us?’” O’Brien added.
O’Brien’s interview comes after the Teamsters declined to endorse a candidate this cycle, arguing that neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to the union. However, a member survey found that 58% of the Teamsters, composed of truckers and UPS drivers, are backing Trump, compared to the 31% who are supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Teamsters executive board’s decision not to endorse Trump or Harris in September came two days after O’Brien met with Harris and two months after he spoke at the Republican National Convention.
Historically, labor unions have backed Democrats. The Teamsters backed every Democratic presidential candidate from 2000 to 2020 and made no endorsement in the 1996 election. It has also endorsed Republican presidents in the past, such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.
The Teamsters president said on Monday’s podcast that the union has given Democrats $15.7 million, compared to the $340,000 it has given to Republicans.
“So it’s like, you know, people say the Democratic Party is the party of the working people,” O’Brien said. “They’re bought and paid for by Big Tech.”
Like the Teamsters, other unions have been slippery this presidential cycle in delaying or declining to endorse any candidates due to policy issues. President Joe Biden, who calls himself the “most pro-union president in history,” found himself on a picket line during the recent United Auto Workers strike.
The union had held off endorsing Biden over their concerns that his administration’s push to switch the nation to electric vehicles would negatively affect auto workers. The UAW eventually endorsed Biden after its monthslong strike, later switching their endorsement to Harris shortly after the incumbent president withdrew from the race in July.
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Both Harris and Trump are making the working class and unions a focal point of their proposed agendas. The vice president has promised to sign pro-labor legislation broadly rejected by Republicans as harmful to small businesses. Meanwhile, Trump has made appeals to the working class by introducing a plan for tax giveaways, but he generally holds a more corporate-friendly stance.
Harris dodged a potentially damaging campaign problem last week after the Biden administration helped negotiate a deal that will delay the historic U.S. port strike until after the 2024 election. Numerous polls show she is also closing the gap between herself and Trump over who is better equipped to handle the economy.