Teamsters president says he hasn’t endorsed Kamala Harris but as a result of “you do not rent somebody until you give them an interview”

Sean O’Brien, president of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters, stated Sunday he hasn’t endorsed within the 2024 presidential race but as a result of he hasn’t but met with Vice President Kamala Harris, and “you do not rent somebody until you give them an interview.”

The Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters is without doubt one of the 10 largest unions in the USA with 1.3 million members and the one within the group of 10 that hasn’t endorsed Harris, the Democratic nominee. 

The Teamsters have traditionally endorsed a presidential candidate after each the Democratic and Republican conventions, however O’Brien stated this election cycle is totally different. O’Brien already turned heads when he spoke on the Republican Nationwide Conference in July, the first chief within the group’s 121-year historical past to deal with the RNC. 

“This time, below our management, we introduced each single candidate to the desk in entrance of our rank and file members and our basic govt board, and we’re ready on Vice President Harris to commit to return meet with us,” O’Brien stated on “Face the Nation.”

O’Brien stated the Teamsters, not like different main unions, have a break up in political affiliation, which heightens the necessity for sit-down conversations with all presidential candidates. Teamsters met with Harris’ GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump, as properly President Biden earlier this yr.

“Half of our members are Republicans, half of our members are Democrats. So we now have to serve all of our membership equally,” O’Brien stated. “And you already know, that is our alternative to ask her (Harris) about Teamster particular points and likewise labor points. So till we now have that assembly, you already know, clearly we are going to wait to make that willpower.”

The Harris-Walz marketing campaign stated earlier than the DNC that Harris has agreed to a roundtable with the Teamsters.

“VP has acquired and gladly accepted an invite by IBT management to take part in a candidate roundtable to debate her document of preventing for Teamsters and their households and to spotlight her imaginative and prescient for the long run. The marketing campaign seems ahead to scheduling the roundtable within the close to future,” a marketing campaign spokesperson stated.

On the RNC in July, O’Brien delivered an anti- massive enterprise keynote speech.

O’Brien’s speech displayed the seen shift inside the GOP since Trump’s election in 2016, transferring from a company, Wall Avenue-focused message towards a extra worker-friendly tone.

“Immediately, the Teamsters are right here to say we aren’t beholden to anybody or any celebration,” O’Brien stated through the July speech. “We are going to create an agenda and work with a bipartisan coalition, prepared to perform one thing actual for the American employee. And I do not care about getting criticized.”

O’Brien stated on “Face the Nation” that he requested to talk at each the Republican and Democratic Nationwide Conventions, however that solely the RNC responded. United Auto Employees president Shawn Fain addressed the DNC in August, in addition to a number of different union leaders. 

“At any time when I get a chance to spotlight the American employee, particularly the Teamster employee, I’ll take any and all venue,” O’Brien stated Sunday.  “We requested each conventions, respectively, on the similar time, and the Republican Nationwide Conference instantly responded to us… I used to be hopeful that the Democrats would do the identical, however they did not.”

When requested if he appeared on the RNC as a result of he feels Trump has been extra pro-labor than previous Republican nominees, O’Brien stated, “no, by no means,” though Trump gave O’Brien a standing ovation and O’Brien known as him a “robust SOB” in his speech. O’Brien on Sunday  insisted the aim of the speech was to spotlight American staff and to not sign an endorsement in anyone path.

“It wasn’t an endorsement for any and all Republicans. It was strictly a message about how vital and the way worthwhile we’re, and to let the folks know that battle us day by day that we’re not going away,” O’Brien stated.