Teamsters President Sean O’Brien recently voiced his frustration with the Democrats during a podcast conversation with comedian Theo Von on This Past Weekend. O’Brientold Von that “the Democrats have fucked us over for the last 40 years,” and emphasized the need for unions to hold political parties accountable.
I’ll be honest with you, I’m a Democrat, but they have fucked us over for the last 40 years, and for once—and not all of them—but for once, we’re standing up as a union, probably the only one right now, saying, ‘What the fuck have you done for us?'” O’Brien shared with Von.
In recent years, the Teamsters Union has given substantial financial support to political parties, with $15.7 million going to the Democratic machine and just $340,000 to Republicans. Despite this generosity, however, O’Brien feels that the Democrats are not living up to their promise of being a party that represents working people.
The system is broken,” O’Brientold Von. Stop pointing fingers at Sean O’Brien, stop pointing fingers at the Teamsters Union. Look in the mirror.
O’Brien went on to recount a heated exchange he had with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, revealing that he had donated $550,000 to the Democratic Party just weeks before attending the Republican National Convention. Despite this support, O’Brientold Von that he felt let down by the Democrats’ lack of action on issues affecting working people.
Before, you always had Democrats fighting for working people—now we kind of see a switch where working people feel like, number one, they’ve been left behind by the Democratic Party,” O’Brientold Von. Two, the Republicans say they want to be working class, represent the working class.
As both parties jostle for the support of labor unions and working-class voters, it remains to be seen how political leaders will address these concerns and what changes may come as a result.