Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien says then-Vice President Kamala Harris attempted to pressure his union into endorsing her 2024 presidential campaign, describing her approach as “smug” and dismissive during a series of encounters that left union leadership frustrated, as reported by The New York Post.

In an interview on Bari Weiss’s Honestly podcast, O’Brien detailed a specific exchange between Harris and a Teamsters official during a photo-op line.

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Democratic presidential candidate former vice president Joe Biden and Democratic presidential candidate U.S. senator Kamala Harris of California speaks the second night of the Democratic presidential debates at the Fox Theatre in Detroit on Tuesday, July 31, 2019.

According to O’Brien, Teamsters Vice President Joan Corey introduced herself to Harris, who immediately responded, “Teamsters better get on board.”

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Corey reportedly replied, “Excuse me?” to which Harris reiterated:

“Yeah, Teamsters better get on board. I don’t know why you haven’t endorsed me yet.”

Corey relayed the encounter to O’Brien, who recalled his reaction: “The nerve!”

O’Brien, who has been critical of the Democratic Party’s handling of labor issues, said the interaction was one of several that contributed to the union’s decision to remain neutral in the 2024 presidential race.

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He also discussed a meeting between Harris and the Teamsters’ executive board, where she was presented with a list of 16 prepared questions. According to O’Brien, Harris answered only four before her staff informed the union she would not be responding to any more.

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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a Get Out The Vote campaign rally Friday, November 1, 2024, at Little Chute High School in Little Chute, Wisconsin.

“She really didn’t answer the questions,” O’Brien said. “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 added that Harris used the remainder of the meeting to deliver a campaign-style speech rather than addressing union concerns.

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He paraphrased Harris’s closing remarks as essentially telling the union, “I’m going to win with you or without you.” That tone, O’Brien said, alienated much of the leadership in the room.

“It was like such a smug answer,” he said.

“That turned the majority of the people in that room off her. You could smell it a mile away.”

The Teamsters ultimately chose not to endorse any candidate in the 2024 presidential election, a decision that prompted backlash from some within the Democratic Party and aligned groups.

“Once we announced that there was going to be no endorsement, that’s when all the keyboard warriors came out,” O’Brien said.

“The attacks from the DSA, and my friends that were allegedly my friends — high-ranking senators of the Democratic Party — once I spoke at the RNC, then I was no good.”

Harris’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

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