Kamala Harris confronted on not earning Teamsters endorsement: 'What was their reasoning?'

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MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle presses Harris on lack of Teamsters support

Vice President Harris discusses her campaign's strategy with Teamsters and other union workers.

Vice President Kamala Harris was confronted by MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle about the Teamsters' refusal to offer their endorsement to the Democratic nominee, the first time it has done so in decades. 

The major labor union group shocked the nation last week when it announced it would not be making an endorsement in the presidential race while also revealing polling data that showed its members overwhelming backed former President Trump, who Ruhle noted "connected" with union members on an emotional level in 2016. 

"When the Teamsters decided not to endorse you, what was their reasoning? What are they looking for?" Ruhle asked. 

Harris initially responded by pointing to the endorsements of other labor union groups she had received, telling Ruhle "I stand by workers and I stand by the importance of being able to join a union and to understand the benefit and the value of unions."

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Vice President Kamala Harris was pressed about why she hadn't earned the endorsement of the Teamsters labor union during an interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle. (Screenshot/MSNBC)

"But I'm asking because there's this idea [that] we want something more from her. What is it?" Ruhle interjected. 

"Donald Trump made a whole lot of promises that he did not meet and one would argue broke," Harris told Ruhle before accusing the former president of outsourcing American jobs. 

She later added, "So part of the challenge, and I don't disagree, but it's a challenge, gotta earn the vote of everybody, is reminding people of fact regardless of what somebody says in a small rally somewhere. And I think that's really important, and that's part of what I'm doing in this campaign is to remind people, just like here in Pittsburgh, of the reality of who has stood with union labor, who stands for American manufacturing, who stands for American jobs."

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Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien said, "Neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business.

"We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ right to strike — but were unable to secure those pledges."

While Teamsters leadership refrained from offering its support, data released by the group showed that nearly 60% of its rank and file members backed Trump while only roughly a third of them planned to vote for Harris.

Teamsters president Sean O'Brien shocked the nation when announcing his labor union would not endorse Harris for president.  (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

In another interview exchange, Ruhle pressed Harris on how she would "get the money" to fund her ambitious economic proposals if Republicans on Capitol Hill block her efforts to raise the corporate tax rate.

"Do you still go forward with those plans and borrow?" Ruhle asked. 

"But we're gonna have to raise corporate taxes," Harris responded. "We’re going to have to make sure that the biggest corporations and billionaires pay their fair share. That’s just it. It’s about paying their fair share."

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MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle pressed Harris on how she would "get the money" to fund her ambitious economic proposals.  (Screenshot/MSNBC)

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Ruhle later admitted that Harris "doesn't answer the question."

"If the GOP is controlling the Senate, if she can’t raise corporate taxes, where is she going to get the money from to expand the child tax credit and do whatever she wants to do. And she says, ‘we just have to do it,’" Ruhle told her MSNBC colleague Nicolle Wallace. "That’s great and that’s a campaign promise, but the issue is, if it means we’re gonna just borrow again, then what we’re doing is we’re just never addressing the deficit. And back in the days when you were a proud Republican, debts and deficits matters."