Flint Democrats are warning former GOP Gov. Rick Snyder’s endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden may deliver the state to President Donald Trump.
“I will continue to support and stand up for Republican policies and values, and support Republican candidates, but I will not support Donald Trump for reelection,” former Gov. Rick Snyder wrote in USA Today last week.
Snyder claimed Trump is “a bully who lacks a moral compass.”
But local Democrats worry the endorsement may hurt Biden, after many progressives blamed the former Republican governor of trying to kill black people after the city switched water sources and poisoned thousands of residents under his watch.
“Look what happened to Flint!” former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver (D) told Newsmax, before claiming some residents are “damaged permanently.” Weaver predicted Snyder “could be in prison someday for the poisoning.”
“Everybody is waiting to see whether Snyder will be charged criminally,” Flint City Councilman Eric Mays (D) told Newsmax. “He’s in hot water now.”
In June, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Snyder could face a civil lawsuit from Flint residents affected by contaminated water.
Via Mlive:
In a ruling Wednesday, July 29, the court held that Flint residents and property owners “sufficiently alleged a claim,” denying a motion to dismiss the case made by attorneys for Snyder and other defendants.
Filed in January 2016, the lawsuit claims Snyder, emergency managers and departments of state government violated Flint residents’ “bodily integrity” by exposing them to lead-contaminated water and hiding what they knew about it. It also claims that homeowners suffered financial losses due to diminished property values for which they weren’t compensated.
Snyder had appointed emergency managers who “made a series of decisions that led to that change in water source, which resulted in elevated levels of lead and bacteria in city water.”
Former resident of the Flint suburbs, progressive filmmaker Michael Moore, blasted Biden’s embrace of Snyder:
“So the Biden campaign thought getting a few more White racist redneck votes in Michigan was more important than getting the Black vote in Flint?” he wrote on Twitter. “Better to embrace the mass-poisoning Republican ex-Governor than worry about ‘those Black people?’ Are u nuts? Apologize & retract NOW.”
Moore also stated touting the endorsement was “an effort to convince Flint voters to stay home on Nov 3 and lose Michigan again.”
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays. Listen to segments on YouTube or download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Parler.