Republican Mayor Drops Trump for Joe Biden in Key Swing State of Michigan

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With Tuesday's Democratic primaries hours away, former Vice President Joe Biden has found an unexpected supporter in Sterling Heights, Michigan Mayor Michael Taylor, a Republican.

"Since announcing my endorsement of Joe Biden I have received an outpouring of encouraging messages and believe even more strongly that Joe Biden is the candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in Macomb County and the State of Michigan," Taylor said in a statement to Newsweek on Monday.

While Taylor, a life-long Republican, voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, he said he would cast his ballot for Biden this year because Trump is "deranged."

"I think Joe Biden is the candidate who can unify all of the Democrats and he's the candidate who can appeal to moderates and Republicans like me who don't want to see four more years of President Trump," Taylor said, according to the Chicago Tribune on Monday.

"I remember thinking this Trump thing is insane, but when it was down to him and Hillary, I kind of said, 'Well, you are a Republican, and yeah he's nuts, but maybe he'll get better and you know he's going to lower taxes," Taylor said. "I slowly talked myself into it. 'He can't seriously be this deranged once he gets in there,' and he's even more deranged now than I thought then. So, I take the blame. I voted for him."

Sterling Heights lies within Macomb County, Michigan. During the 2016 presidential election, Trump won Macomb County by roughly 54 percent. Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton received 42 percent of the popular vote.

Biden holds a wide lead over his progressive rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, in Michigan, according to recent polling from the Monmouth University Polling Institute. Biden has 51 percent of support from Michigan Democrats while Sanders has 36 percent. Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, the only other remaining Democratic candidate for president, garnered one percent of Michigan voters' support.

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