Teamsters president responds to apparent DNC snub: 'Failed to invite one of the most powerful unions' in US
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien is addressing the Democratic National Convention (DNC) for reportedly snubbing him following his historic speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) last month.
O’Brien, a self-proclaimed "lifelong Democrat," argued that the convention "failed to invite one of the most powerful unions" in the U.S., and for that, they would be criticized.
"You know, the reality is they didn’t invite us, and we’ve been around [for] 121 years. We’re going to continue to be around for 121 years," he said Tuesday during his appearance on "Your World with Neil Cavuto."
O’Brien suggested that taking on the corporate elitists could have been the deciding factor in whether he received an invitation to the Democrats’ convention.
"I talked about corporate elitists. I talked about the Ubers of the world, the Lyfts of the world. I talked about Amazon at the RNC. Well, those are big donor classes for the RNC, but they're also big donor classes for the DNC," he explained.
"You know, there's relationships there at the DNC that maybe they didn't want me to speak there because I would've talked to that same group. I would've exposed those same corporate elitists who attack us [Teamsters] every single day," he continued.
O’Brien said that the reality of the situation may have been that the convention simply didn’t want his voice "heard there."
Despite the DNC allegedly rebuffing the Teamsters leader, O'Brien said he wasn’t upset, and he will continue to take "any opportunity" to showcase the union’s values and work, which is why he agreed to speak at the RNC in July.
O'Brien said his speech at the GOP’s convention was well-received by union members, with only 11% disapproving of his appearance after a poll was conducted.
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"If the far-left want to criticize me and attack me, that’s OK. If the far-right wants to do the same, that’s great. I represent 1.3 million hardworking men and women," he told host Neil Cavuto.
When asked if Teamsters had any overtures with the Kamala Harris campaign, O’Brien disclosed that they [Harris campaign] agreed to address the union’s general executive board and roundtable of rank-and-file members.
As for the Trump campaign, O’Brien has managed to build a rapport with the former president after the two met privately two weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
Recently, former President Trump was called out by a reporter for his comments during an interview with Elon Musk on X, where he called the tech pioneer the "greatest cutter" while discussing employee strikes.
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O’Brien weighed in on the former president’s remarks, arguing that he would have responded "accordingly" whether it was Trump, President Biden or "anybody" else.
The union chief went on to mention that he doesn’t agree with any employer firing workers who are exercising their right to form unions, coining the effort as "economic terrorism."
"If you are going to take on American workers, and you're not going to treat them fairly, then you're fair game, and you're going to have to deal with the consequences," he stated.
Despite the Teamsters’ long history with the Democratic Party and the warm reception from the GOP, O’Brien announced that there would no longer be any "free rides for anybody."
"Both sides come to us asking us for support. And you know if the situation isn't right for our members, they're not going to get the free ride that they've gotten under our previous administration, or anybody else," he declared.
The Teamsters union has not publicly endorsed a presidential candidate for 2024, a surprising shift in protocol from past election years.