Teamsters President Ripped For Not Backing Harris: ‘Failure Of Management’

Former longtime Teamsters President Jim Hoffa blasted his successor on Thursday for the union’s controversial determination to not endorse Kamala Harris for president.

Hoffa accused the union’s present chief, Sean O’Brien, of a “failure of leadership,” saying the Teamsters’ non-endorsement would enhance the marketing campaign of former President Donald Trump. He referred to as it “a critical error” on O’Brien’s half.

“There is only one candidate in this race that has supported working families and unions throughout their career, and that is Vice President Kamala Harris,” he stated in a press release despatched to reporters.

Hoffa, the son of Jimmy Hoffa, headed the union for 23 years earlier than stepping down in 2022. He stated he oversaw the presidential endorsement course of six occasions throughout his tenure.

“In every case, we supported the candidate that demonstrated a proven track record of fighting for working Americans and unions,” Hoffa stated.

O’Brien introduced Wednesday that the 1.3-million-member Teamsters wouldn’t be endorsing Harris or Trump, saying the union discovered “no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee.” The union additionally launched inside polling the identical day displaying members most popular Trump to Harris.

The announcement from the worldwide union angered progressive members — and prompted a slew of its native associates to declare their backing for Harris.

As of Thursday afternoon, 11 Teamster locals and joint councils had endorsed the Democrat inside a 24-hour span, together with some within the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, in accordance with a tally offered by the Harris marketing campaign.

Requested for a response to Hoffa’s feedback, Teamsters spokesperson Kara Deniz offered a press release calling the previous union chief “an armchair quarterback.”

“The Teamsters Union lost hundreds of thousands of members under Hoffa’s failed leadership,” the union stated. “As we successfully build back that member density under Sean O’Brien, we will continue to support and respect all our members — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.”

Main unions just like the Teamsters are inclined to again Democratic candidates for workplace, since Democrats usually assist unions whereas most Republicans, together with Trump, are hostile to them. The Teamsters endorsed Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Invoice Clinton for president, although the union supported George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan in earlier years.

Not endorsing anybody this cycle means the union received’t be mobilizing its political program for both celebration on the prime of the ticket, successfully benefiting Trump.

As Hoffa put it, “By the [union] choosing to not endorse Harris-Walz, the invaluable impact those grassroots efforts represent will be absent in critical battleground states.”

The Teamsters additionally handed Trump a public-relations win: The GOP candidate’s marketing campaign gleefully blasted out the polling numbers the union launched, calling it proof rank-and-file members again the Republican.

O’Brien has stated that members of each events have let organized labor down and vowed that the union wouldn’t be “beholden” to both. He even requested for and accepted a talking slot on the Republican Nationwide Conference this summer time, a choice that infuriated left-leaning union members given the celebration’s observe file on labor.

In that speech, O’Brien referred to as on each Democrats and Republicans to assist staff and praised Trump as “one tough SOB.”