DETROIT – Former Vice President Joe Biden was paid $200,000 to speak at a Michigan GOP event last fall, where he praised Republican Congressman Fred Upton, who was facing a Democratic challenger in the 2018 election, according to the New York Times.
The Times reported Wednesday that Biden spoke at event in Benton Harbor, Michigan, three weeks before the November election. He spoke at Lake Michigan College and voiced support for Republican Rep. Upton, in the middle of a heated election battle.
Biden collected $200,000 from the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan to address a Republican-leaning audience, the Times reported.
Biden voiced support for Upton's "landmark medical-research law," and called him a "champion in the fight against cancer."
Local Democrats pleaded with Biden to repair what it saw as a damaging error, but it didn't happen, the Times reported.
Rep. Upton went on to defeat his Democratic challenger by four and a half points in the 2018 general election.
Biden, who served as vice president under President Barack Obama, is considered one of the front-runners in the 2020 presidential election.