Opinion: Teamsters' Sean O'Brien Shouldn't Be Taking Flak From His Allies For RNC Speech
He flew where others wouldn't dare.
By Peter List, Editor | July 17, 2024
There is an old expression that has its origins in World War II: “If you’re not taking flak, you’re not over the target.”
Well, since his speech at the Republican National Convention Monday night, when he flew into “enemy territory,” Teamsters President (and self-proclaimed “life-long Democrat”) Sean O’Brien has been taking a significant amount of flak.
However, he is not taking the most flak from his enemies in corporate America; instead, he is taking the most flak from his allies on the left.
Earlier today, the Washington Post published an article entitled ‘Betrayed’: Unions, White House irate over Teamsters president’s RNC speech.
According to the WaPo writers, union leaders and the White House feel as though they have been “betrayed” by O’Brien’s appearance before the RNC.
Noting the Biden bailout of the critically-underfunded Teamsters Central States Pension Plan for 350,000 Teamster retirees1 (not to mention numerous other union pensions bailed out), “White House aides were particularly furious over O’Brien’s appearance, which they viewed as a betrayal of the administration’s support for many of the Teamsters’ top priorities,” reported WaPo’s writers.
“Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the bosses’ side,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler stated. “We won’t be fooled.”
WaPo provided several other examples of union leaders negatively describing O’Brien’s choice to appear at the RNC Convention. However, in most cases, they did not criticize the extremely pro-union speech (in full here).
This means the criticism of O’Brien is not over the content of his speech but his choice of venues. That, though, was the purpose of his decision which makes it all the more daring.
It should noted that, following his request in June to speak at both the DNC and RNC conventions, it was only the RNC (through Trump, and despite business’ misgivings) that responded to O’Brien’s request.
As of Monday afternoon, O’Brien told Fox’s Neil Cavuto that he has not heard from anyone at the DNC about his request to speak there.
The fact is, O’Brien chose to go into what most union leaders would consider to be enemy territory and deliver an extraordinary pro-union speech that most would only hear if they attended union rallies.
He didn't hold back and, probably to the discomfort of some in the audience or watching at home, he identified his opponents in "corporate America.”
While blaming "the broken system in Washinton” and “K street” certainly made some khaki-wearing lobbyists uncomfortable, most of the Left seems almost apoplectic at his “betrayal.”
Even the Teamsters’ X (formerly Twitter) account bashed O’Brien, though the posts have since been removed.
Although many on the right may strongly disagree with O’Brien’s policy agenda, it should be recognized that his voicing the frustrations of the “working class” is a frustration felt across much of America, and it is bi-partisan.
In WaPo’s story on Monday, the only union leader who offered any praise for O’Brien’s choice to speak at the RNC was the vehemently anti-Republican Federation Teachers’ President Randi Weingarten, who stated on Twitter that she was “glad” O’Brien was at the RNC:
Similarly, the socialist publication Jacobin—which cannot remotely be considered a MAGA-supporting publication—noted that O’Brien’s “speech was one of the few times an audience like that would hear a voice that criticizes the corporate sponsors of the Republican Party.”
In this era of hyper-partisanship, rather than blasting O’Brien for delivering a message “deep in enemy territory,” perhaps his allies should laud his bravery.
After all, if people on both sides spent a moment listening to one another, while they may not agree on policies or even political positions, that might lessen some of the partisan hate that divides the country.
For all the other criticisms one might have toward Sean O’Brien and his agenda, at least he made an effort to suit up and fly into hostile territory.
It could be argued that the reason the Teamsters’ Central States Pension Plan needed bailing out in the first place was due to another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter, who signed the Motor Carrier Act in 1980, deregulating the trucking industry and causing hundreds of trucking companies to go out of business.