Biden Gets $200,000 For Speech Backing Republican Re-Election To US House - Reports

Umer Jamshaid Published January 24, 2019 | 02:42 AM

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2019) Former US Vice President Joe Biden flew to the state of Michigan three weeks before the 2018 midterm elections, where he earned $200,000 for a speech to a Republican-leaning audience praising Republican Congressman Fred Upton, according to media reports.

Biden stunned Democrats and elated Republicans by praising Upton while the lawmaker looked on from the audience, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Biden called Upton "one of the finest guys I ever worked with," while praising the longtime congressman's support for the fight against cancer, the report said.

Upton later won re-election in Michigan, one of three Democratic-leaning states that swung Republican in the 2016 presidential elections, allowing President Donald Trump to win.

Biden spoke to the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, a civic group funded by Upton's family, and was paid $200,000 for his efforts, the report said.

The local Democratic Party pleaded with Mr. Biden to repair what it saw as a damaging error, to no avail, according to the report.

Upton defeated his Democratic challenger in the 2018 midterm elections by four-and-a-half percentage points.