A California sheriff was less than pleased to find out he was featured in a new political ad for Kamala Harris in which she touts border security, which he says distorts the record.
"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," Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said in a statement issued to Fox News Digital.
Boudreaux, who has spent 37 years in the Tulare County Sheriff's Office and is currently president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, described a visit Harris made to the Central Valley in 2013 when she was serving as the California attorney general.
The video features Boudreaux and other local and state law enforcement when Harris was in the Central Valley under circumstances that he couldn't recall, but he did remember her attitude during the visit.
"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.
Boudreaux said in that particular case, 11 people were arrested, including suspected "kingpin" Jose Magana of Dinuba.
"The truth is, Harris never cared about the cartels and did nothing to stop people from illegally crossing the border," Boudreaux said.
Boudreaux added that the appearance by Harris was all "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."
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Boudreaux's political action committee, Golden State Justice, also issued a statement about the new campaign ad.
"As Attorney General, Kamala Harris undercut efforts by California law enforcement officials to stop criminals from flooding our state with guns and drugs across the border," the statement read.
"She repeatedly defunded and shuttered task forces designed to protect our residents, leaving the Valley and our state vulnerable," the statement continued. "Kamala's sad attempt to paint herself as tough on the border by implying my support – and the support of neighboring law enforcement leaders – is pathetic."
The statement finishes by stating that "a politician crowding the podium at a press conference clearly hasn't solved our border crisis. Neither has Kamala Harris."
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The new ad, which promotes Harris' work as a border state prosecutor, claims 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 at the time there were many layoffs and people looking for jobs because the Department of Justice was eliminating people.
"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."
