The Harris campaign appears to have crossed the line by featuring a California sheriff in an advertisement about border security.
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux set the record straight, stating the campaign did not have his permission before putting him in the ad.
In short, the sheriff said in a statement to Fox News, “I do not support her.”
“In light of a recent political ad put out by Kamala Harris featuring Sheriff Boudreaux, as well as other local law enforcement, the Sheriff wants to make it abundantly clear that his image is being used without his permission, and he does NOT endorse Harris for President or any other political office,” Boudreaux said.
The 37-year veteran of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said Harris visited the Central Valley in 2013 when the video in the ad was taken. She was the California attorney general at the time.
Boudreaux disputed any theory that Harris was hard on border security.
“As a matter of fact, I would like to point out the misleading information projected in that same political ad. In the ad, Harris claims to have spent decades fighting violent crime as a ‘border state prosecutor.’ The facts are that ‘then California Attorney General Kamala’ came to the Valley in 2014 touting a years-long investigation into a multi-national drug operation, with ties to Mexican drug cartels and prison gangs,” Boudreaux said.
“The truth is, Harris never cared about the cartels and did nothing to stop people from illegally crossing the border,” Boudreaux said.
Boudreaux said Harris’ visit was nothing more than “smoke and mirrors.”
“We were in the green room. She never came in and said hello to any of us. She walked up front, gave her presser, literally walked out, never said hi to any of us,” Boudreaux said. “I’m disgusted because, you know, she didn’t shake hands. She didn’t say hello. And she’s taken credit for all this work that the locals did.”
Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward is also in the ad and had the same reaction as Boudreaux.
“The hypocrisy knows no bounds. It’s disingenuous and her campaign ad, somehow now, touting her reputation as a prosecutor as a positive thing, she was attorney general under three of the worst tragedies that had befallen the citizens of the state of California.,” Ward said.
The ad showcases Harris’ work in her time as a border state prosecutor. The ad states she will “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.”
“How can you go in and promote that you were this tight border person when all the troops are coming across the border, and you literally are eliminating all these task forces? I mean, that completely made us mad,” Boudreaux said.
Boudreaux said some research would reveal the truth.
“When you see that advertisement, if you do a little research, you’ll find that what she’s (Harris) touting goes completely against what was happening at the time, so when she put that picture out there with me in it, I got really upset, that ad is all smoke and mirrors,” Boudreaux said. “I do not support her.”
