From "awesome" to "disgusting": Readers weigh in on the Teamsters' RNC speech

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     July 29, 2024 Hi readers! This is Jeremy Schulman, an editor in the MoJo DC bureau. A couple weeks ago, I asked you all what you thought about Sean O'Brien, the Teamsters union president who gave perhaps the second-most significant speech at the Republican National Convention. O'Brien [didn't endorse Trump](, but he did praise the GOP nominee while also criticizing corporations and giving voice to a number of organized labor's key demands. The Biden administration was [reportedly furious]( at O'Brien for lending legitimacy to Trump—a billionaire whose [presidency delivered]( a host of anti-labor policies and appointments. That war of words has continued. Today, the White House [released a statement]( hailing President Biden's ongoing use of Covid relief funds to [protect the pensions]( of hundreds of thousands of Teamsters. At the time, I said I thought O'Brien's speech was probably a good thing. From the responses we got, it looks like roughly half of you agreed. "Any time a person can speak the truth to a large gathering, & seek to build understanding is good," wrote Ardyth. "Workers’ Rights should be bipartisan." "I think Sean O’Brien was very smart to accept the opportunity to speak at the RNC and delivered an awesome speech on the importance of unions," concurred Barbara. "Donald Trump did not see Sean coming and I love it." Others disagreed strongly. “I can't fathom why a union leader would kiss up to the GOP when like Lucy in [Peanuts] they hold the football and pull it away at the last minute," wrote one reader. "The GOP has done zero, nada, zip for the unions; the Democrats have done everything they could from saving the American auto industry and its workers to Biden taking to the picket line." Many readers argued that even if it would be smart for unions to reach out to Republicans in other years, 2024 was different. "O’Brien made the wrong choice," said David. "It is one thing for a labor leader to speak to a Republican Party that supports democracy, it is entirely another to accept the invitation of an authoritarian, anti-democratic, racist, sexist, proto-dictator." One reader's criticism wasn't limited to the Teamsters leader. "What O'Brien did is opportunism and disgusting," opined Joe (not that Joe), before turning his attention to what I had written. "I don't call the article [smart, fearless journalism](. I call it scab journalism and hopefully Mother Jones will never let the author write for the magazine again." Sorry, Joe. —Jeremy Schulman P.S. [This week's episode]( of the Reveal podcast follows one mother's bid to keep her son off the streets as he deals with mental health struggles. 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