Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) believes that the 60% of Teamsters union members who back Donald Trump are “uninformed,” expressing disappointment after union leaders decided not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union of more than 1.3 million members, released internal polling showing that Trump was supported by the union members over Harris 59.6% to 34%. The new internal poll showed a significant swing among union members in favor of Trump after Biden dropped out of the race. Members previously supported Biden over Trump 44.3% to 36.3%.
The Teamsters, which endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1996, said it would not endorse a candidate this year, adding that Harris would have only needed to gain “majority support” for an endorsement while Trump would have needed “universal support.”
McGovern, who routinely slams “MAGA Republicans,” said that Teamsters members who support Trump are “misinformed or uninformed.”
“It’s clear that these workers are misinformed or uninformed about Trump’s record on labor. He is the most anti-labor president we have ever had, and his allegiance isn’t toward working people,” he said, according to The Washington Times. “Look at his plans for a tax cut. I mean tax cuts for rich people, but not for people in the middle class.”
McGovern joined other House Democrats who expressed frustration with the Teamsters withholding an endorsement of Harris. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said she was “disappointed” with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, saying she finds his “behavior, especially after he went out to eat at Mar a Lago with Donald Trump, to be a questionable change in his pattern.”
“At the end of the day, we know that when the Teamsters are in trouble, who do they call when they need to make sure that Teamsters pensions are bailed out?” she added, “When they need to make sure that they have a fair shake at the negotiating table? It was Sean O’Brien calling Democrats for help.”
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Rep. Pramilla Jayapal (D-WA) also argued that Democrats are responsible for saving Teamsters pensions and “fighting for union organizing.”
O’Brien also became the first Teamsters president to give a speech at the Republican National Convention when he addressed the GOP gathering in July.
“The American people aren’t stupid. They know the system is broken. We all know how Washington is run,” O’Brien said in the speech. “Working people have no chance of winning this fight. That’s why I’m here today because I refuse to keep doing the same things my predecessors did.”