Firefighting congressman hopes IAFF shuns Harris after Biden nod: ‘Arsonist telling you how to put out fires’
Congress’ only career firefighter will introduce Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, at the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) conference in Boston Thursday in an effort to urge members to support the Trump-Vance ticket, after they were the first labor union to endorse President Biden in 2020.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., became a City of Miami firefighter in 1975 and rose to the rank of chief by the end of his career. He said Thursday that, like his fellow first responders, former President Trump has shown he is always ready to "answer the call."
The IAFF has not thrown their support to either current presidential candidate yet.
Gimenez said while his main role is to introduce Trump’s running mate, he will make brief remarks on why his fellow firefighters should endorse the Republican nominee this time around.
"I felt it was important enough to get up at 3 a.m. to go to Boston and introduce Sen. Vance and talk to them about why I think President Trump and JD Vance are right for not just firefighters but for America."
Gimenez discussed Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent policy proposals in a general sense, and suggested she has been pushing fixes to problems the Biden-Harris administration themselves exacerbated.
"My pitch is going to be, you know, where firefighters are always willing to answer the call or they answer the bell – Right now America is, is asking for help, and we should respond," Gimenez said.
"And America is asking for help because of the disaster that's been the Biden-Harris administration and… some of the things that have happened over the last three and a half years… that Kamala Harris in particular wants us to forget that they were in charge of."
"Somehow they're now going to fix it or she's going to fix it… It’s like having the arsonist tell you how to put out the fire."
Gimenez said that while he has held other roles throughout his life – commissioner, mayor of Miami-Dade County, congressman – when he is asked what his job was, he routinely replies, "firefighter."
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"I was the youngest one and the first Hispanic chief – I was very fortunate to be a firefighter and it’s also shaped the way I see things and how I deal with things."
Gimenez said that when "firefighters do well, America does well," and that as a "first responder," they understand urgency in key situations.
As for whether the IAFF may be primed to make a 180 and endorse Trump, Gimenez said the union tends to follow its affiliate in the AFL-CIO, which typically endorses Democrats.
"Ever since I’ve been a firefighter, they tend to go Democrat. Hopefully, we can break the trend today."
Gimenez expressed hope in that regard, given they did not swiftly endorse Harris as they had for Biden in 2020.
"It’s not a slam dunk for Democrats this time around," Gimenez said of some union endorsements, despite Biden self-identifying as the most "pro-union" president in history.
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Notably, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien became the first such official to speak at the Republican National Convention, but was reportedly not invited to speak to the Democratic National Convention this year.
Unions aside, Gimenez said firefighters don’t care about political affiliation while on-the-job.
"Every time the bell rings, we get on the truck or we get on the rescue [vehicle] and we answer the call. We’re going to help – that’s what’s great about [firefighters]."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and IAFF for comment.