California sheriff used in Kamala campaign ad says he doesn’t endorse Harris, who ‘did nothing’ to halt border crossings, cartels
A California sheriff blasted Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign on Tuesday for using his likeness in a new ad without his permission, adding that he doesn’t endorse the Democratic presidential nominee because she “did nothing to stop people from illegally crossing the border.”
“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 told Fox News in a statement.
“The truth is, Harris never cared about the cartels and did nothing to stop people from illegally crossing the border,” Boudreaux fired back.
The Tulare County sheriff appears briefly in the TV ad as a narrator reads, “Kamala Harris has spent decades fighting violent crime as a border-state prosecutor. She took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border.”
A spokeswoman for the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the statement to The Post, before adding, “Sheriff Boudreaux vehemently opposes the use of his image in a political ad promoting Kamala Harris.”
Boudreaux, who served in the county’s law enforcement office for nearly 40 years, said that claim was “misleading” and that Harris’ appearance alongside him and other law enforcement officials when she was serving as California attorney general was “smoke and mirrors.”
The ad shows her brief trip “to the [Central] Valley in 2014 touting a years-long investigation into a multi-national drug operation, with ties to Mexican drug cartels and prison gangs,” he noted.
Later, the narrator also promises Harris will “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking,” which Boudreaux said “completely made us mad.”
“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?” he asked.
Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward, who is included in the footage too, also slammed Harris and told Fox News her “hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
Boudreaux further recalled that Harris didn’t even say “hello to any of us” as she smiled for the cameras and took credit for the drug bust.
“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,” he 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.”
ABC 30 in Dinuba reported at the time that 11 people were arrested — including “suspected kingpin” Jose Magana — and authorities seized nearly 950 marijuana plants, 4 kilograms of cocaine and 56 pounds of meth.
Harris used the occasion to demand from then-California Gov. Jerry Brown an increase of $7.5 million in funding to her law enforcement budget for cracking down on drug trafficking statewide.
As vice president, however, she has expressed that “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed” and approved of President Biden’s signing off on dozens of pardons for those sentenced to federal prison for drug-related crimes.
In April, Harris teamed up with Kim Kardashian at the White House to celebrate some of those clemencies, including several ex-cons who had cocaine or crack convictions, as well as others sentenced for methamphetamine distribution and heroin possession.
“We have pardoned all people for federal convictions for simple marijuana possession,” Harris boasted at the event.
None of those pardons were for people still behind bars, though, and a congressional estimate recently showed that roughly 2,700 are still federally incarcerated for pot-related offenses.
The Harris TV spot launched on Aug. 9. Reps for her campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boudreaux ran as a Republican in the May special election to replace retiring Rep. Kevin McCarthy in California’s 20th Congressional District, just seven months after McCarthy had been ousted as House speaker.
