Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said on Tuesday that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stopped communicating with him after O’Brien spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, noting that the senator’s attitude and level of access have changed.
Speaking with The Free Press‘ Bari Weiss, O’Brien said Sanders “doesn’t talk to me anymore.”
O’Brien explained that while he addressed the 2024 Republican National Convention, he never heard back from the Democratic National Committee after requesting to speak. The Teamsters did not endorse either President Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
When asked if he used to communicate with Sanders often, O’Brien said the two had previously shared the stage at rallies. “I think he looks at it as a betrayal of not endorsing the Democratic Party,” O’Brien said.
“He’s never said that, but his whole attitude and access have completely changed towards us,” O’Brien added.
According to O’Brien, his staff reached out to Sanders’ office last week while working on the Faster Labor Standards Contract Act — which O’Brien described as a scaled-back version of the PRO Act — but the interaction did not go smoothly.
“He’s got a problem with it, and his staff [were] not too nice to my staff. So it’s like, we’re only as good to people when we’re carrying that water, but I guess that doesn’t matter,” O’Brien said.
“I mean, look, I like the guy. I have respect for him. I saw him on Joe Rogan. I don’t know. This is the problem with politics. People take things too personal. And when you don’t go along to get along because you’re actually listening to people you represent, and they don’t talk to you anymore — that’s the problem. It’s fine.”
Sanders’ team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
O’Brien also criticized former Vice President Kamala Harris during the interview, accusing her of trying to pressure the union into endorsing her campaign.
He recounted an interaction Teamsters leader Joan Corey allegedly had with Harris during a photo-op line. According to O’Brien, Corey introduced herself as a Teamsters vice president, and Harris pointed her finger, saying, “Teamsters better get on board.” When Corey asked her to repeat herself, Harris allegedly said, “Yeah, Teamsters better get on board. I don’t know why you haven’t endorsed me yet.”
O’Brien said he was taken aback by the exchange, calling it “the nerve.”
He also claimed that when Harris met with the union’s executive board — which had prepared 16 questions for her — she only answered four before pivoting into a speech about the state of the country and why the union should support her.
“She really didn’t answer the questions, and then on the fourth question, my chief of staff slides me an index card and says, ‘This is the last question. She’s not answering anymore,’” O’Brien said.
