The political action group Teamsters reported late last month that it had donated $45,000 to the Republican National Committee (RNC). Federal Election Commission Recordsa rare case in which a union supports the Republican Party.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien met with former President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in mid-January and made the donation a few days later. The union’s entire leadership met with President Trump in Washington immediately after the donation was made.
The donation represents President Trump’s strategy to splinter the Democratic Party’s historic hold on organized labor and comes a day after the United Auto Workers union endorsed President Biden’s re-election bid.
The Teamsters union is not endorsing any 2024 presidential candidates and has continued to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic causes in recent months, while the RNC’s donations are not endorsing any 2024 presidential candidates, according to FEC filings. This will provide a boost to organizations that have struggled to raise funds during this cycle. .
The union has supported and donated to Democrats in the past, supporting Biden in 2020, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and former President Obama in 2012 and 2008. Currently, it is one of the few national unions that has not yet endorsed a presidential candidate.
President Biden has made organized labor a focus of the 2024 cycle, joining forces with striking autoworkers in Michigan last year and ultimately winning support from the UAW.
Biden has called himself “the most pro-union president in American history” and has repeatedly met with labor leaders across the country to drum up support. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor union, endorsed Biden last June.
After meeting with Teamsters leaders last month, Trump had speculated that he could receive unusual Republican support from the group.
“A strange thing happened,” he told reporters.
“Normally, Republicans wouldn’t have that kind of support,” he said. “But for me, it’s different. I’ve employed thousands of Teamsters, so I thought I should come here and pay my respects.”
The Hill has reached out to the Teamsters and RNC for comment.
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