Presidential candidate Herman Cain struck back Monday against abrasive comments made by Teamsters union President Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. attacking the tea party and congressional Republicans at a Labor Day event in which President Obama later delivered a speech.
Appearing on Fox News Channel, Cain said the reason Hoffa and others resort to vitriolic rhetoric to bash conservatives is because “they have no plan, they have no ideas.”
“The one reason the president and his administration don’t have an idea that’s going to work is they keep forgetting the business sector is the engine that drives growth,” Cain said.
“He [Obama] is offering the same old stuff so all he and others can resort to is name calling,” Cain continued. “That’s all they have to intimidate folks. When he mentioned about working people, tea party people work, too. The fact that the president made his remarks and didn’t offer one constructive idea about how he’s going the get this economy going and the reason is simple. He doesn’t have any. Zero job growth [in August] and I’m looking Thursday for another zero in that speech that he’s going to give.”
Hoffa Jr. said during his speech that unions need to fight a “war” against tea partiers and congressional Republicans.
“President Obama, this is your army,” he declared. “We are ready to march. Let’s take these sons of bitches out and take America back to where America we belong.”
Though Obama wasn’t present when Hoffa Jr. made his incendiary remarks, Obama noted the presence of the Teamsters union president during his speech. Other union bosses joining Obama at the rally were United Auto Workers President Bob King, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and SEIU President Mary Kay Henry.
A spokesman for the AFL-CIO has not answered multiple requests from The Daily Caller asking whether Trumka supports Hoffa’s comments.