Sean O’Brien, the general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, is a self-identified Democrat who has in recent years made no secret of his antipathy to elements of the GOP.
However, O’Brien — like the overwhelming majority of Teamsters — has recognized that the Democratic Party deserves even more of his ire.
Speaking to comedian Theo Von on the Monday episode of “This Past Weekend,” O’Brien said, “I’ll be honest with you, I’m a Democrat, but they have f***ed us over for the last 40 years.”
“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?'” continued O’Brien.
The Teamsters union, which has over 1.3 million members, announced in September that it would not endorse any candidate for president for the first time since 1988.
Straw polls conducted between April and July indicated that President Joe Biden had the support of the Teamsters. Following Biden’s ouster, a majority of voting members twice selected Trump in polls for a possible Teamsters endorsement over Harris.
An electronic member poll conducted between July 24 and Sept. 25 showed that 59.6% of Teamsters supported Trump. Only 34% signaled support for Harris. A research phone poll conducted Sept. 9-15 similarly had Trump up by double digits, 58% to Harris’ 31%.
“I’m getting attacked from the left, and we’ve given — since I’ve been in office, two and a half years — we’ve given the Democratic machine $15.7 million,” continued O’Brien. “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 the working people. They’re bought and paid for by Big Tech.”
‘The f***ing system’s broken.’
Extra to Trump’s personal outreach to the unions, Blaze News previously noted that his selection of Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate helped curry favor with unions on account of Vance’s support for tariffs and protectionist economic policies.
“For the short time we’ve worked together, he’s been great on Teamster issues,” O’Brien said of Vance on Fox News. “He’s been right there on all our issues.”
“If 60% of our members aren’t supporting [the Democrats], the f***ing system’s broken,” O’Brien told Von. “You need to fix it. Stop pointing fingers at Sean O’Brien. Stop pointing fingers at the Teamsters union. Look in the mirror.”
“Before, you always had Democrats fighting for working people, and, you know, Republicans, now we kind of see a switch where working people feel like, number one, they’ve been left behind by the Democratic Party. Two, you know, the Republicans say they want to be working-class [and] represent the working class. They have an opportunity to do it.”
In August, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. similarly suggested that a political realignment was under way.
“I think there’s been a bunch of realignments, of political realignments — about four or five throughout American history,” Kennedy told Tucker Carlson. “I think we’re going through one right now.”
Kennedy emphasized that the Democratic Party of yesteryear is gone and that what remains, with the Harris “apparatus” at the helm, is an anti-democratic force synonymous with corporatism, military adventurism, and censorship.
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Sean o’brien, Teamsters, Obrien, Union, Endorsement, Democratic party, Theo von, Von, Election, Voters, Working class, Populism, Politics
