A Pennsylvania sheriff said he switched party affiliation to join the Republicans because of the Democrats' "socialist" agenda.
James Custer, sheriff of Layette County, said he began considering a party change when COVID-19 first forced lockdowns around the country.
"It's the shift in ideals of the current Democrat Party at the national level – the socialist agenda – and this is something that I had been considering for several months," Custer told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" on Monday.
"It probably started back when the pandemic started and the mandates coming down by the Democratic governors, and we have one here in Pennsylvania, that I feel are unconstitutional."
Custer said his duty was to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States and not "these unconstitutional mandates being brought down on our citizens."
The sheriff also cited calls within the Democratic Party to defund police as a reason he switched party allegiances.
"That was a definite factor, being that I have 30 years in law enforcement," Custer said. "Starting back from the George Floyd incident and all the civil unrest and the calls to abolish the police and defund the police that was factoring into my decision in that, hey, this was not what I signed up for."
Custer said he was one of 40 individual Pennsylvania sheriffs to endorse President Donald Trump before the November election.
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