The Trump campaign is firing back after the hospitality union UNITE HERE rejected Trump’s tax-free tips pledge and announced it has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for president.
“It’s sad that union bosses continue to be puppets for the Democrat Party and are completely out of touch with the workers they are supposed to represent,” Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital.
The comments come after the UNITE HERE union promised as part of its endorsement a commitment to have members knock on more than 3 million doors in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina, according to a report from ABC News.
The pledge comes despite Trump’s pitch for the support of restaurant and hotel workers, who he promised tax-free tips as part of his broader tax cut strategy.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump (Getty Images)
“To those hotel workers and people who get tips, you are going to be very happy, because when I get to office we are going to not charge taxes on tips, people making tips,” Trump said when first proposing the idea at a June 9 rally in the swing state of Nevada, a hotbed for workers in the hospitality industry.
But Gwen Mills, the UNITE HERE president, said Trump’s pledge was just the former president “making a play” for votes, arguing that Harris has a long history of working to support unions.
The fight over the votes of tipped workers comes as Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who the former president picked as his running mate last month, have made a broader pitch to blue-collar workers in the Rust Belt to support the Republican ticket.
“In small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan, in states all across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war,” Vance said in his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024. (Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)
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“To the people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and every corner of our nation, I promise you this,” he continued. “I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from.”
Meanwhile, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien became the first leader of his organization to speak at the Republican National Convention, where he signaled rare openness to support for a Republican ticket.
Sen. JD Vance speaks during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“We are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien said. “We want to know one thing: What are you doing to help American workers?”
Meanwhile, Leavitt argued that Trump would continue to work to earn results for American workers.
“President Trump delivers on his promises, and he will deliver on his pledge to end taxes on tips so America’s hardworking service workers can keep more of their hard-earned money,” Leavitt added. “Unlike Kamala Harris who helped Joe Biden create an inflation crisis, President Trump is a business leader and has a proven record of building a great economy for America’s workers, and he will do it again.”
UNITE HERE did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
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