Teamsters leader on not automatically choosing Biden: Union must do ‘due diligence’

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said on Tuesday that the union didn’t automatically choose President Biden as their pick because the union needed to do its “due diligence.”

“I represent 1.3 million members, very diverse membership. We’ve got a lot of Republicans, we’ve got a lot of Democrats, we’ve got some independents, so we have an obligation to do our due diligence and just not serve one part of our membership. We’ve got to hear from all of our membership,” O’Brien said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, one day after addressing the Republican National Convention.

“Historically, I think we’ve been very clear that we have not endorsed the presidential candidate until both respective conventions have been concluded, and that’s why we asked to speak at both the Republican and Democratic National Convention,” he added.

O’Brien said he has asked to speak at the Democratic convention but has not been invited yet. The Hill has reached out to the Democratic National Committee for comment.

O’Brien spoke Monday at the Republican convention, a notable move given they endorsed Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016. The Teamsters president lauded former President Trump as a “one tough SOB” after the former president survived an assassination attempt Saturday.

“You can have whatever opinion you want, but one thing is clear: President Trump is a candidate who is not afraid of hearing from new, loud and often critical voices,” O’Brien said.

“And I think we all can agree whether people like him or they don’t like him, in light of what happened to him on Saturday, he has proven to be one tough SOB.”

During the interview, O’Brien acknowledged that Biden had done a lot for unions, calling him the “most pro-labor president we’ve ever had.” 

“The reality of it is, look, what you’ve done in the past doesn’t dictate what’s going to happen in the future. And often, too, times, and I’m not suggesting this with President Biden or President Trump — what we’ve been promised and what’s been delivered, have been two different things,” he explained. 

“And we want to make certain that we respect everything that’s been done in the past, but everything now done in the past doesn’t make me a shoo-in for anything in the future.”