Teamsters President Sean O’Brien stunned Tucker Carlson when he revealed that Kamala Harris told the vice president of his own union, “I’m going to win, with you or without you.”
The often combative union boss refused to support Harris or Donald Trump in November. He pointed out that he had been given a platform at the Republican convention, but not a platform at the Democratic convention.
O’Brien took heat from the Democrat in the interview with Carlson, describing an “arrogant” Democrat candidate who pushed them to get in line.
He talked about a meeting his lieutenant Joan Corey had with Harris in June, before Biden dropped out of the race.
After introducing herself and saying she was with the Teamsters, Harris became demanding.
‘Teamsters? You better get on board. You better get on board. It is better to get on board quickly,” the candidate had told the union.
Later, O’Brien discussed a meeting his union leadership had with then-candidate Harris where she refused to answer certain questions they asked each candidate.
“Her statement on the way out was: I’m going to win, with you or without you.”
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien stunned Tucker Carlson when he revealed Kamala Harris told the vice president of his own union: ‘I’m going to win, with you or without you’
O’Brien took out many of the Democratic skeletons in the interview with Carlson, focusing mainly on what he believed was the Democratic nominee’s arrogance.
An incredulous Carlson joked at one point, “Damn. I thought I was arrogant. That’s really arrogant.’
O’Brien tried to talk to Marty Walsh, Biden’s former secretary of labor and now the head of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, but he was also confused.
“Let me ask you a question, Marty. Excuse my French. Who does this damn lady think she is?’
He also confirmed what many believed about Joe Biden when he met him, long after he initially asked and long after Trump committed to the same process.
“We had Biden in there and you could clearly see it was him, not the man he was. It was a bit sad.”
He had said Biden was good for the labor movement and saw him personally as: “A nice older man, a nice older gentleman.”
However, it was clear to O’Brien during his meetings with the president that he had lost a step.
“What they did to him, the Democratic Party, seemed a little like elder abuse to me.”
An incredulous Carlson joked at one point, “Damn. I thought I was arrogant. That’s really arrogant’
O’Brien tried to talk to Marty Walsh, Biden’s former secretary of labor and now the head of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, and was similarly confused.
He said his union asked each candidate 16 questions and Biden would answer only five, while Trump and even people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West would answer all sixteen questions.
O’Brien said Harris answered only four before making her shocking and ultimately incorrect statement that she would win.
The Teamsters president has been a thorn in the side of Democrats, who have typically counted on unions to support them no matter the circumstances in state and local elections.
In October, O’Brien described himself to podcaster Theo Von as a Democrat, but he believes the party may no longer be the right party to represent the working class.
“I’m a Democrat, but they fooled us for once in the last 40 years we stand up as a union and say, what the hell have you done for us?’ O’Brien said in scathing remarks.
“I’m under attack from the left, you know, and since I’ve been in power for over two and a half years, we’ve given the Democratic machine $15.7 million.
“We gave the Republicans about $340,000, honestly, so it’s like, you know, people say the Democratic party is the party of working people, but in reality they’re bought and paid for by the big tech companies,” O explained “Brien out.
“Now you have the Republicans now saying, ‘Hey, we want the workers’ party!” and okay, you now have a great opportunity to do that.
Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien meets with President Joe Biden in April 2022. The union member was a fan of Biden but seems less enthusiastic about Harris
Sean O’Brien is seen on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention in July. He was not invited to speak at the Democratic convention
“As far as Democrats are concerned, if 60 percent of our members don’t support you, the damn system is broken and you need to fix it. SPoint your fingers at the Teamsters Union and look in the mirror,” he said bluntly.
Earlier in the podcast, O’Brien explained how he believed the sands could shift as the Republican Party now competes to be the party that represents workers.
“It’s funny, you know, before you always had Democrats fighting for working people, and now we’re seeing kind of a shift where working people feel like they’ve been let down by the Democratic Party and Republicans say they want to be the party that should represent them. the working class,” O’Brien said.
“They have a chance to do it, but you know, I think we have a huge opportunity to organize. We exposed them and we fought. And you know our biggest opponent right now is Amazon, and we’re going to crush them.”
The powerful union chose not to back either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for president, in a huge blow to Democrats.
The move came just weeks after O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention, and days after Harris met with union leaders.
A letter from the union’s board revealed divisions in the membership base and erosion in support for Democrats after Joe Biden resigned in July.
“President Joe Biden received the support of Teamsters who voted in local unions in straw polls between April and July, prior to his exit from the race,” the statement said, citing member polling data.
Teamsters CEO Sean O’Brien has criticized the Democratic Party, describing how he believes the party has “fooled us for the last 40 years.”
“But in independent electronic and telephone polls from July through September, a majority of voting members twice chose Trump for a potential Teamsters endorsement over Harris.”
“The union’s extensive membership surveys showed no majority support for Vice President Harris and no universal support among members for President Trump.”
That left the leadership of the union, which includes truck drivers and a range of other professions, in the difficult position of selecting a candidate who did not have strong support from its own members.
The union, which is more conservative than many other Democratic-aligned unions, has not endorsed a Republican since 1988. She did not express her support either in 1976 or in 1996, during Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign.
It is the only one of the country’s ten largest unions that Harris does not support.
According to data released by the union, supporters chose Trump over Harris by 60 to 34 percent.
The Teamsters also slammed both candidates for not promising to support them on key issues.
“After going through six months of national membership surveys and completing nearly a year of roundtable discussions with all the major candidates for president, the union was left with few commitments on Top Teamsters issues from former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris – and found no definitive support among members for either party’s candidate,” the report said.