Last week, the International Association of Fire Fighters, a union representing 300,000 such first responders, refused to give a 2024 endorsement. This outfit quickly endorsed Joe Biden for the 2020 race. It was a massive body blow to the Kamala Harris operation, which has been bereft of some major labor union support. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters refused to endorse anyone, even though nearly 60 percent of their rank-and-file said they would support Donald Trump.
Yet, this story is more humiliating for Kamala. As it turns out, it seems she was expecting the endorsement, as noted by the Associated Press when she was in Michigan at the time:
The Associated Press reports that Kamala held her rally yesterday in a Detroit area firehouse to celebrate an endorsement from the International Association of Firefighters.
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) October 5, 2024
Less than 24 hours before the rally, the Firefighters voted to not endorse her.
Total humiliation. 😭 pic.twitter.com/4Q4izFtjzp
It was the perfect place to welcome the endorsement of the firefighters union — a gleaming new firehouse in a blue-collar town just outside of Detroit in the key battleground state of Michigan.
But by the time Kamala Harris showed up in Redford Township on Friday, there was no endorsement waiting for her.
By a slim margin, the International Association of Firefighters declined to back any candidate, a reminder of the Democratic nominee’s struggle to lock down the same support from organized labor that President Joe Biden won four years ago. The Teamsters also balked at an endorsement last month.
Harris is still gaining more endorsements than she’s losing. National teachers unions, building trade unions, the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers backed the vice president shortly after Biden ended his run for a second term. And the leader of the Michigan firefighters union, Matthew Sahr, showed up for Harris in Redford Township — although not to bestow the endorsement.
Yet, the United Auto Workers union president, Shawn Fain, openly admitted that his members will likely vote for Trump. Kamala is projected to be the worst-performing Democrat with union voters, and Trump has a 30-plus lead with working-class voters.
Yet, it’s clear from this setup that her camp assumed this union would back the inept vice president. That's not the case. It's just brutal.