It has been less than a year since Teamsters Union President Sean O'Brien almost got into a fistfight with Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullen (OK). Now Donald Trump is celebrating the labor leader coming to the Republican National Convention.
Axios reported earlier in June that O'Brien was fishing for a speaking slot at the big GOP event. Trump announced on Friday that O'Brien will join the Republicans.
“So make up your mind. You want to date me, fight me, bite me, or shoot me?" O'Brien said on Fox after the near physical altercation with the Oklahoma Republican on the Senate floor.
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The two men had been fighting on X for months, with O'Brien posting a photo of a box for Mullen to stand on to increase his stature behind a debate podium.
“Stand your butt up," Mullen said to O'Brien during the Senate hearing in November.
“Stand your butt up," O'Brien replied.
Mullen began taking off his suit coat and preparing for battle when Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) told Mullen to sit down and act like a senator.
"God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress," Sanders complained.
In a celebratory post to Truth Social announcing the speaker, Trump adopted the language often used by Democrats to refer to "working families" and included a call to "unify America" that was a significant piece of President Joe Biden's 2020 campaign message.
"Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at UC Santa Barbara, estimates that around 40%-45% of its membership leans Republican," an MSNBC post said. Though the Teamsters have, like other labor unions, largely backed Democrats during their history, they were one of the few unions to back Ronald Reagan, and the only major labor outfit to support George H.W. Bush in his 1988 campaign."
Republicans have long opposed labor unions, supporting so-called "right to work" laws which knee-cap unions by making it illegal to require dues for membership.
But Trump argued that he wants the workers to be "respected around the world."
"Sean, I look forward to seeing you represent the Teamsters in Milwaukee," Trump closed.
