The President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sean O’Brien, has asked both sides of the political spectrum to speak at their conventions, meaning he would be present for speeches at both Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. Both leading candidates, current President Joe Biden for the Democratic party and former President Donald Trump for the Republican party have been grasping for support from the labor unions, hoping to get a big endorsement like the one that could possibly come from the Teamsters President.
Thus far, the Teamsters have made no endorsements for this upcoming election.
The Teamsters union holds a lot of power with mass groups of people, so many have been eager to see where their votes will go. Other large unions have already backed President Biden, so some expected this union to follow suit. However, Union President O’Brien has merely asked to be a part of both conventions and announced that any formal endorsement from him on behalf of the union will not come until later in the year. People are starting to speculate when exactly his “later in the year” endorsement will be as both party conventions are coming up in the summer. The Republican party convention is held in July and the Democratic party convention is held in August. Then, the elections are set for early November.
Speaking at both conventions in this way is quite unheard of.
Most often, speakers at these conventions are prominent supporters of the party themselves or the candidate being put on the party ticket. Speaking at both suggests an odd, almost indecision that many express confusions over. People are especially confused as rumors have been floating around that O’Brien and Trump have become friends.
O’Brien has invited several candidates to meetings to discuss matters including both Biden and Trump as well as independent candidates like Robert F. Kennedy and Cornel West. Since his meeting with Trump, people from Trump’s team have stated that the two have a growing working relationship, leading many to theorize an endorsement from Teamsters is in Trump’s future. However, this would be quite surprising as historically, Biden has been a far more pro-union president than Trump was, which is why most other leading unions endorsed the current president.
