This week, Donald Trump received a major endorsement from a significant New York City labor union, further revealing the cracks that have begun to show within the Democratic Party.
Traditionally, Democrats have been the recipients of support from trade unions, but so far Biden has only been able to land endorsements from large, politically connected unions that have a symbiotic relationship with his own party.
The smaller groups that are closer to actual workers have shown favor to Trump, and it’s not difficult to see why.
“Illegal immigration … gas prices, grocery prices, inflation … the push for EV vehicles, solar power. I mean, you name it,” said Bobby Bartels, Steamfitters Local 638 business manager, about why many of his members are backing Trump, News Nation reported.
“They are pretty much disgusted” with the status quo, he told NewsNation’s “On Balance” on Friday. “My members are sending me a pretty clear message … that they want change.”
Bartles says his union’s endorsement isn’t quite a renewal of the “hippies vs. hardhats” conflict of the late 1960s and ‘70s.
“When the hippies in the 70s protested, they were protesting against a war that they didn’t believe in,” he said. “These protesters are protesting against America. (They’re) looking for the death of a certain heritage.”
Last February, the Teamsters Union shocked political commentators by donating the maximum allowed to the Republican National Committee after Trump met with its leadership.
Throughout his term, Biden has portrayed himself as a member of the labor movement, explained New Conservative Post, putting on a “blue collar” face the new leftism that has come to take over the party, with its focus on open borders, “green” energy, protesting Israel and prioritizing abortion.
Team Trump believes that the former president can make inroads with unions and union workers. The Associated Press noted last month that “Trump participated in a roundtable with the union’s executive board, its president and members as he works to win over the blue-collar workers who helped fuel his 2016 victory and who are expected to play a major role in November, particularly in critical Midwestern swing states like Wisconsin and Michigan.
Speaking to reporters after what he called ‘a very productive meeting,’ Trump acknowledged the union typically backs Democrats, but said of a possible endorsement, ‘Stranger things have happened.’
‘Usually a Republican wouldn’t get that endorsement,’ he said. ‘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.’
That work seems to be paying off.
