Teamsters boss suggests Democratic convention snubbed him to protect ‘corporate elitists’

International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien insinuated he was not allowed to talk at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) due to “corporate elitists” in a Wednesday interview.

“Both parties … I talked about corporate elitists, I talked about the Ubers of the world, the Lyfts of the world, I talked about Amazon at the [Republican National Convention (RNC)],” O’Brien told Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto.

“Well, those are big donor classes for the RNC, but they’re also big donor classes for the DNC,” O’Brien continued. “And you know, there’s relationships there at the DNC that maybe they didn’t want me to speak there because I would’ve talked to that same group, I would’ve exposed those same corporate elitists who attack us every single day.”

O’Brien said in the Fox News interview that Democrats had “not yet” decided on if he could talk at their convention.

Last month, O’Brien gave a speech at the Republican convention in Milwaukee. Following that speech, John Palmer, an International Brotherhood of Teamsters vice president at-large, announced a challenge against O’Brien. Palmer noted multiple reasons behind O’Brien not being right for the position in a letter, including that members might be afraid of retaliation.

“This has all culminated in his presence at the anti-union, anti-worker Republican national convention, kissing the ring of a man that scabbed a picket line, failing to pay workers, discriminating against people of color as a landlord, falsely accusing five Black men in New York of murder, orchestrating an insurrection against the United States, dodging the draft, and appointing Union busters from the Jones Day law firm to create the most anti-union Labor Board in history,” Palmer wrote.

The Hill reported last week that the Teamsters said Vice President Harris’s campaign agreed to be a part of a roundtable alongside members of one of the largest unions in the U.S.

“We look forward to Vice President Harris joining a roundtable of rank-and-file Teamsters to discuss the issues of importance to workers,” Kara Deniz, assistant director of communications for the Teamsters, previously said.

In an email to The Hill, Republican National Committee spokesperson Anna Kelly said that the committee “was the only party to accept Sean O’Brien’s request to speak because Republicans are the party of working families.”

“President Trump is making lasting inroads with union leaders and broadening the Republican tent in a historic way,” Kelly continued. “Hardworking Americans are struggling from Biden’s out-of-control inflation, unaffordable housing costs, and soaring gas prices.”

The Hill has reached out to the Democratic National Committee, Uber, Lyft and Amazon for comment.

Updated Aug. 22 at 3:46 p.m.

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