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Teamsters president says he hasn’t endorsed Kamala Harris yet because “you don’t hire someone unless you give them an interview”
Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said Sunday he hasn’t endorsed in the 2024 presidential race yet because he hasn’t yet met with Vice President Kamala Harris, and “you don’t hire someone unless you give them an interview.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is one of the 10 largest unions in the United States with 1.3 million members and the only in the group of 10 that hasn’t endorsed Harris, the Democratic nominee.
The Teamsters have historically endorsed a presidential candidate after both the Democratic and Republican conventions, but O’Brien said this election cycle is different. O’Brien already turned heads when he spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, the first leader in the organization’s 121-year history to address the RNC.
“This time, under our leadership, we brought every single candidate to the table in front of our rank and file members and our general executive board, and we’re waiting on Vice President Harris to commit to come meet with us,” O’Brien said on “Face the Nation.”
O’Brien said the Teamsters, unlike other major unions, have a split in political affiliation, which heightens the need for sit-down conversations with all presidential candidates. Teamsters met with Harris’ GOP opponent, former President Donald Trump, as well President Biden earlier this year.
“Half of our members are Republicans, half of our members are Democrats. So we have to serve all of our membership equally,” O’Brien said. “And you know, this is our opportunity to ask her (Harris) about Teamster specific issues and also labor issues. So until we have that meeting, you know, obviously we will wait to make that determination.”
The Harris-Walz campaign said before the DNC that Harris has agreed to a roundtable with the Teamsters.
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“VP has received and gladly accepted an invitation by IBT leadership to participate in a candidate roundtable to discuss her record of fighting for Teamsters and their families and to highlight her vision for the future. The campaign looks forward to scheduling the roundtable in the near future,” a campaign spokesperson said.
At the RNC in July, O’Brien delivered an anti- big business keynote speech.
O’Brien’s speech displayed the visible shift within the GOP since Trump’s election in 2016, moving from a corporate, Wall Street-focused message toward a more worker-friendly tone.
“Today, the Teamsters are here to say we are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien said during the July speech. “We will create an agenda and work with a bipartisan coalition, ready to accomplish something real for the American worker. And I don’t care about getting criticized.”
O’Brien said on “Face the Nation” that he asked to speak at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, but that only the RNC responded. United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain addressed the DNC in August, as well as several other union leaders.
“Whenever I get an opportunity to highlight the American worker, especially the Teamster worker, I’m going to take any and all venue,” O’Brien said Sunday. “We asked both conventions, respectively, at the same time, and the Republican National Convention immediately responded to us… I was hopeful that the Democrats would do the same, but they didn’t.”
When asked if he appeared at the RNC because he feels Trump has been more pro-labor than past Republican nominees, O’Brien said, “no, not at all,” although Trump gave O’Brien a standing ovation and O’Brien called him a “tough SOB” in his speech. O’Brien on Sunday insisted the purpose of the speech was to highlight American workers and not to signal an endorsement in any one direction.
“It wasn’t an endorsement for any and all Republicans. It was strictly a message about how important and how valuable we are, and to let the people know that fight us every day that we’re not going away,” O’Brien said.
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Paul Whelan, freed in prisoner swap with Russia, tells other American detainees: “We’re coming for you”
Washington — Nearly seven weeks after the Russians handed over Paul Whelan on a tarmac in Ankara, Turkey, the Marine veteran stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with a message for other Americans who are held abroad.
“We’re coming for you,” he told reporters Tuesday night after he met with lawmakers. “It might take time, but we’re coming.”
Whelan said he spoke with lawmakers about how the government can better support detainees after they’re released.
“We spoke about how the next person’s experience could be better,” he said. “What the government could do for the next person that’s held hostage and comes home — the care and support that other people might need, especially people that are in a worse situation. There are people coming back that lived in the dirt without shoes for three years, people that were locked up in hideous conditions for 20 years. They need support.”
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The U.S. secured Whelan’s release in August in one of the largest prisoner swaps since the end of the Cold War. The complex deal came after months of sensitive negotiations between the U.S., Russia, Germany, Slovenia, Poland and Norway.
As part of the deal, Russia released 16 prisoners while the Western countries released eight Russians. Whelan was released alongside Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Russian-American radio journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a U.S. green card holder and Kremlin critic.
Whelan, who had been the longest-held American detainee in Russia, was arrested in December 2018 when he traveled to the country to attend a friend’s wedding. He was convicted of espionage in a secret trial and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.
Whelan, his family and the U.S. government vehemently denied that he was a spy and accused Russia of using him as a political pawn. The U.S. government considered him to be wrongfully detained, a rare designation that put more government resources toward securing his release.
But a deal to secure his freedom was long elusive. He remained behind bars as Russia freed Marine veteran Trevor Reed and women’s basketball star Brittney Griner — both of whom were detained after Whelan’s arrest — in prisoner swaps with the U.S.
The U.S. said it pushed for his inclusion in both exchanges, but Russia refused. It led to Whelan advocating for his own release from a remote prison camp, calling government officials and journalists to make sure that he wasn’t forgotten.
When the plane carrying Whelan, Gershkovish and Kurmasheva landed in Maryland on Aug. 1, Whelan was the first to disembark. He was greeted by President Biden, who gave Whelan his American flag pin, and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Whether he likes it or not, he changed the world,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
Whelan’s case and his family’s constant pressure on the U.S. government brought more attention to the cases of Americans who are wrongfully detained by foreign governments.
Haley said Whelan is a reminder to other Americans considering traveling to Russia that “you have a target on your back.”
Whelan said it’s been an adjustment acclimating to life back in the U.S., especially learning the latest technology like his iPhone 15.
“I was in a really remote part of Russia,” he said. “We really didn’t have much. The conditions were poor. The Russians said the poor conditions were part of the punishment. And coming back to see this sort of thing now is a bit of a shock, but it’s a good shock.”