Donald Trump Says He Had A 'Strong Meeting' With Largest Union Group Who Last Endorsed Joe Biden
Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump met with Teamsters, the largest labor union in America during his campaign trail on Wednesday, in Washington, D.C.
Teamsters Labor Union is the most diverse and largest in the U.S., with nearly 1.3 million members supporting a plethora of workers and retirees, from airplane pilots to zookeepers.
Labor unions traditionally extend political endorsements to the Democratic party. Teamsters, who endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Trump, is no different.
However, Trump, 77, believes "in his case, it's different."
Trump spoke to the Associated Press, calling his meeting with Teamsters very "strong" and "productive."
"Stranger things have happened," Trump began. "Usually a Republican wouldn't get that endorsement for many many years — they only do Democrats. But in my case, it's different because I've employed thousands of Teamsters, and I thought we should come over and pay our respects."
The General President of Teamsters, Sean M. O'Brien, said whichever candidate serves the needs of the union will receive the endorsement.
"The only realistic possibility out there is, that whichever candidate supports our issues is going to get our endorsement," O'Brien said. "If we're not confident in any candidate they won't get any endorsement."
He continued, "Look, there's no question that the Biden Administration has been great to unions. Sometimes, dialogue helps formulate differences of opinion that will be favorable to unions and positions moving forward."
"We're not looking at what happened in the past, we're looking on what's going to happen in the future," he said.
Teamster's Vice President at Large John Palmer reportedly feels the 45th president should be left out of the discussion entirely.
"As a United States Army veteran, I cannot support a draft dodger and traitor who deliberately undermines the Constitution of the United States. We should never entertain dialogue with a candidate with such an anti-union record," he said in a statement to CNN.
Palmer did not join the meeting with Trump on Wednesday.
O'Brien has made it clear that the members want to hear from all candidates of all parties about what they plan to do for working people as president before making a final decision.
The United Auto Workers endorsed President Joe Biden's re-election campaign one week ago.
