Biden’s team is justifiably angry at Teamster President Sean O’Brien’s prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention. But, if you look at it from a certain point of view (to quote a well-known sage) O’Brien’s action was sort of understandable. It would seem that he is convinced that Trump is going to win, or at least that he is very likely to win. Therefore, O’Brien may just be trying to curry some favor—or at least a little less antagonism—from a famously ill-tempered man who is presumably going to have a lot more power to hurt than he had last time. This is the same type of reasoning that motivates many rich contributors to give substantial sums to both parties. That way they hope to be in the good graces of whoever wins. This strategy often works.
However, what O’Brien seems to have forgotten (if this was his motivation) is that Trump has no loyalty downward. Judging by his well-remembered past history, Trump can be counted on to do whatever he thinks is best for his own self at that moment, and to throw a former supporter or ally under the bus if that person becomes inconvenient in terms of Trump’s current personal interests. O’Brien was wasting his time if he had any hope that making nice with Trump is going to help his or any other union in any way if Trump does become President. So maybe the lesson to be learned is that O’Brien isn’t that astute a leader, and the Teamsters might want to elect somebody else.