Former President Donald Trump's campaign roasted Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday over the International Association of Fire Fighters' decision not to endorse her for president.
"This is another devastating blow to Kamala Harris' failing campaign," Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary, wrote in a statement. "Hardworking Americans including Teamsters, firefighters, Border Patrol Agents, law enforcement officers, teachers, small business owners, moms and dads are sick and tired from the inflation, border crisis, and chaos caused by Kamala's incompetence and terrible policies.
"President Trump represents the change our country desperately needs and he will deliver economic relief, safety, and security for all Americans."
The IAFF on Thursday became the second major union to decline endorsing a candidate for president this year.
Despite the union's early support of President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, its executive board voted not to endorse Harris or Trump by a 1.2 percentage point margin.
"Over the past year, the IAFF took unprecedented steps to hear our members' views on the candidates and the policy issues that matter most to them," the union's president, Edward Kelly, said in a statement.
"As we have over our 106-year history, the IAFF will continue its work to improve the lives of fire fighters and their families," the statement continued. "The IAFF Executive Board determined that we are better able to advocate for our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them if we, as a union, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder. This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity."
The IAFF has reportedly endorsed a Democrat in every presidential election since at least 1976, with the exception of 2016, when the union also made no endorsement.
After news about the IAFF's non-endorsement broke, the Trump campaign seized the opportunity to pan the Democrat nominee's policies as "devastating" to workers.
"Kamala clearly has a BIG problem with rank-and-file workers across the country, who know her policies — such as a fracking ban, electric vehicle mandate, and other left-wing lunacy — would be devastating," the Trump campaign wrote Thursday.
"Workers also know President Trump and Senator JD Vance, the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history, have always had the backs of American workers — and always will," it added.
The IAFF's announcement follows the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' decision not to endorse any candidate running in this year's election.