which nearly invariably goes blue—the union urged her to go kick rocks and declined to support either her or Donald Trump.
In the middle of the 20th century, my great-grandfather was a Teamsters leader in Philadelphia who challenged Jimmy Hoffa to become the union’s national president. I once questioned him about the extent of the renowned Hoffa’s corruption and mob-up nature, but Pop would never speak out against him. He would just say, “Jimmy was a friend of da workin’ man,” in his accent.
Teams won’t endorse the president despite Trump’s support from members.
Decades later, this week’s decision of who is the friend of the working man in the 2024 race between Trump and Harris had to be made by the leadership, 1.5 million Teamsters, and 500,000 retirees.
The union chose not to support either candidate with substantial funding in an unexpected and blatant jab at Harris. The union’s decision was made, quite obviously, in response to pressure from its membership.
