Columnist David Marcus talks to rank and file union members and finds more of them trust Trump with the economy.
Just days after Vice President Kamala Harris met with the leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to appeal for their endorsement, one that almost always goes blue, the union told her to kick rocks, declining to endorse either her or Donald Trump.
My great-grandfather was a Teamsters boss in Philadelphia in the mid 20th century who ran against Jimmy Hoffa for the national presidency of the union. I once asked him just how corrupt and mobbed-up the legendary Hoffa was, but Pop would never say a word against him. In his brogue, he would simply say, «Jimmy was a friend of da workin’ man.»
Decades later, the leadership and 1.5 million members of the Teamsters, along with 500,000 retirees, had to decide this week whether Trump or Harris is the friend of the working man in the 2024 race.
In this stunning move, and direct snub to Harris, the union decided not to endorse or put its significant resources behind either candidate, and the reason why is very obviously pressure from its membership.
«I voted for Biden», a retired longtime Teamster told me in Washington, Pa., just outside Pittsburgh. «But you want facts? Let’s give grocery facts, let’s give electricity facts, let’s give gas facts, let’s give every fact between when he was elected and now.
