PA Sheriff Switches to GOP, Slams Democrats' 'Socialist Agenda'
A sheriff in Pennsylvania switched parties and joined the GOP, citing the Democrats’ draconian COVID-19 lockdowns and their race-hustling “defund the police” hysteria, which has ignited a crime wave in liberal cities across the United States.
Fayette County Sheriff James Custer told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that his state’s “unconstitutional” coronavirus restrictions — coupled with the Democrats’ escalating anti-police rhetoric and lurch to the left — cemented his decision.
“It’s the shift and ideals of the current Democrat Party at the national level, the socialist agenda,” Custer said in explaining why he switched parties.
“It probably started back when the pandemic started and the mandates coming down by the Democratic governors.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who first issued a strict coronavirus lockdown order for the state on March 6, imposed a new set of restrictions last week.
The Democrat banned indoor dining and closed gyms, movie theaters and other indoor entertainment for three weeks.
He also limited the size of indoor gatherings to 10 people (including Christmas celebrations inside your own home) and restricted outdoor gatherings to 50 people.
High school and youth sports activities are also suspended under the restrictions, which are in effect until Jan. 4.
Now in effect through January 4, 2021: New temporary mitigation measures to target high-risk environments and slow the spread of the COVID.
Together we can protect our hospital system, health care workers, and each other as we get closer to a vaccine. pic.twitter.com/NbDCTwDvPo
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) December 12, 2020
Custer told “Fox & Friends” mandates like this are unconstitutional and thus run counter to his duty as a sheriff, which he says is “to protect, serve and uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
He said he began seriously considering abandoning the Democratic Party after the nationwide, anti-police Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“Starting back from the George Floyd incident and all the civil unrest and the calls for ‘abolish the police,’ ‘defund the police,’ that was part of factoring into my decision that, ‘Hey, this is not what I signed up for,'” Custer said.
In addition to Custer, Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower — also a longtime Democrat — announced he was switching parties, and for the same reasons, the Herald-Standard in Uniontown reported.
Bower slammed Democrats for their promotion of anti-police protests and their repeated calls to defund the police, saying the party’s incitement of riots and lawlessness was “totally, totally contrary to what we believe and our values” as law enforcement officials.
The sheriff joins a growing legion of Democratic law-enforcement officials who are disgusted with their own party’s authoritarian COVID restrictions and anti-police sentiments.
In September, another Pennsylvania sheriff — a lifelong Democrat — announced that he was endorsing President Donald Trump and switching parties because the Democrats had veered so far left he no longer recognized the party.
“I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, it left me,” Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert told “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
“The past few months with the goings-on in the news media with the protests, the riots, the looting, burning, assaults on law enforcement … the silence of the Democratic Party was deafening,” Albert said.
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