US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 4, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
WASHINGTON (Reuters): In a meeting with one of America's most powerful unions in September at its Washington headquarters, Vice President Kamala Harris said she'd protect union jobs and workers' livelihoods better than Donald Trump.
But leaders of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, long staunchly allied with her Democratic Party, appeared unconvinced. When Harris argued that her Republican rival was no champion of the working class, the union bosses grilled her, questioning whether she and President Joe Biden had done enough for union workers, according to a Teamster leader who recounted the Sept 16 meeting to Reuters. Within days, the union publicly embarrassed Harris by declining to endorse a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1996.
Uh-oh! Daily quota reached.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 4, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris react during an election night campaign watch party Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, early on November 6, 2024. Republican former president Donald Trump closed in on a new term in the White House early November 6, 2024, just needing a handful of electoral votes to defeat Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris takes part in a phone bank at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC, on November 5, 2024 (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
Supporters attend an election night event for US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris at Howard University in Washington, DC, on November 6, 2024. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)
Supporters wearing custom Kamala Harris jackets attend a Georgia Democrats watch party in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 6, 2024. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP)
A supporter of US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris reacts during an election night event at Howard University in Washington, DC, on November 5, 2024. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
