LAS VEGAS — The International Association of Fire Fighters said Monday that it will abstain from endorsing a presidential candidate for the 2016 election.
IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger made the announcement in his 2016 State of the Union address during the organization’s 53rd annual convention.
“We have two candidates who seem to have trouble telling the truth. Their rancor and rhetoric is over the top,” Schaitberger said.
The union leader said, without naming Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, that “a decision to endorse either way could have the real potential to do real harm to our solidarity.”
The decision came after feedback and polling conducted of IAFF members yielded a sharp division on support for the two candidates.
“As a board we have discussed the deep and emotional divide in strongly held positions throughout our ranks,” Schaitberger said. “So we decided that endorsing a candidate for president in these circumstances would be so devastating to so much of what we built and counter productive to our members’ interests.”
The union withdrew its plans to endorse Clinton in October, a decision The New York Times reported was based on the possibility that Vice President Joe Biden would run for president.
“This decision was not taken lightly … We feel strongly that this is the right decision for this election,” Schaitberger said.