Teamsters prez says Dems 'lost touch' with working class, Pelosi and Schumer's 'time is over'

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said Tuesday that the Democratic Party went down to defeat in last Tuesday’s presidential and Congressional elections because it “has lost touch with working-class people.” O’Brien told Fox News host Neil Cavuto that it was time for former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and outgoing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to acknowledge their “time is over.”

“I think they lost touch with the working class people. It was clearly evident in the election results. And look, this was an economic election, and we still have a lot of our members who are working-class Americans that are hurt, and they felt the struggle at the pump,” O’Brien said. “They felt the struggle at the grocery store. And instead of embracing and trying to find a solution to the problem, the Democrats took a position that their opinion mattered: it's all that mattered, and they wanted to talk down to a lot of working-class people,” O’Brien continued.

“You know, social issues are important, but at the end of the day, it's putting food on the table, being able to afford a home. And despite, you know, the rhetoric of ‘This is the best economy ever,’ you know it really hasn't been. So that's what I believe it came down to, was an economic decision”

The union boss urged past Democratic leaders to consider moving on. “At the end of the day, a lot of these issues are important but what is more important is providing an opportunity for your family, putting food on the table, saving some money and living the American dream. So, they have got a lot of soul-searching to do,” O’Brien said. “I said this earlier today in another interview, the Democrat Party needs to take a look in the mirror and say maybe Chuck Schumer’s time is over, maybe … Pelosi’s time is over. Let’s figure out who is going to be the best for the party.”

O’Brien did not count out the Democrats in future elections but said they have a lot of work to do, the Daily Caller noted. “The Democrats have an opportunity to refocus and try to reclaim why they lost the working class and the Republicans have been saying they want to be the working-class people. So, it’s a great opportunity for both sides, especially Republican, to prove that. We have a lot of issues we need to get resolved in this country, and we have got to do it.”

O’Brien said he believes a lot of his membership will be taking a wait-and-prove-it attitude towards Trump, seeing if he is serious about fixing problems in America that matter to working-class Americans.

“We want results, not excuses,” O’Brien said. “And look, the great part about this process is we have four more years. If people don’t, on either side, live up to their promises and/or fix their problems, we’ve got four years to build a machine to get the right people in there that will make the right decisions.”

“As an organization, we are always looking at how do we leave this organization better than we found it. I think that needs to be the focus,” O’Brien added. “Look, we all have pensions for a reason. That’s to use them to retire and enjoy life. Maybe they should take a page out of Joe Biden’s book and step aside.”

Internal election polls revealed that a majority of teamsters in all states were supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Despite those numbers, O’Brien said the union would not officially endorse Trump, even though O'Brien had spoken at the Republican National Convention.