Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux recently found himself in an uncomfortable spotlight when he discovered that his image was featured in a political ad for Kamala Harris, the current Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate.
The ad, which highlights Harris’s record on border security, sparked a strong reaction from Boudreaux, who claims his image was used without permission and that the ad distorts the truth about Harris’s actions during her time as California’s attorney general.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Sheriff Boudreaux made it clear that he does not endorse Kamala Harris for any political office and is frustrated by what he sees as misleading information in the ad. “My image is being used without my permission, and I do NOT support Harris for President or any other political office,” Boudreaux stated firmly.
Boudreaux has a long history in law enforcement, having served 37 years in the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. He currently holds the position of president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association.
The sheriff recalled an encounter with Harris during a visit she made to California’s Central Valley in 2013 when she was serving as the state’s attorney general. Though Boudreaux couldn’t recall all the specifics of the visit, he remembered Harris’s demeanor and attitude, which left a lasting impression.
“In the ad, Harris claims to have spent decades fighting violent crime as a ‘border state prosecutor,’” Boudreaux said. “The truth is that ‘then California Attorney General Kamala’ came to the Valley in 2014, touting a years-long investigation into a multinational drug operation with ties to Mexican drug cartels and prison gangs. But her involvement was minimal at best.”
Boudreaux pointed out that while Harris appeared to take credit for the operation, it was the local law enforcement who did the heavy lifting. In that particular case, 11 people were arrested, including a suspected “kingpin” named Jose Magana from Dinuba.
Despite Harris’s claims in the ad, Boudreaux argued that she “never cared about the cartels and did nothing to stop people from illegally crossing the border.” He went on to describe her appearance at the time as mere “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, and literally walked out without acknowledging anyone,” Boudreaux recalled. “I’m disgusted because she didn’t shake hands, didn’t say hello, and now she’s taking credit for all the hard work that the locals did.”
Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward, who also appears in the Harris ad, echoed Boudreaux’s frustration. He called the ad “disingenuous” and criticized Harris for touting her reputation as a prosecutor, despite what he described as a lack of meaningful action during her tenure as attorney general.
“The hypocrisy knows no bounds,” Ward said.
“She was attorney general under three of the worst tragedies that had befallen the citizens of the state of California. It’s disappointing to see her campaign portray her record in such a positive light when that’s not how we experienced it.”
Boudreaux’s political action committee, Golden State Justice, also released a statement condemning the 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 went on to criticize Harris’s attempt to align herself with law enforcement. “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,” it continued. “A politician crowding the podium at a press conference clearly hasn’t solved our border crisis. Neither has Kamala Harris.”
The ad, which promotes Harris’s work as a “border state prosecutor,” claims that she will “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.” However, Boudreaux argued that these claims are contradicted by her actions while in office. Boudreaux said:
“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 were eliminating all these task forces? That completely made us mad.”
He recalled that at the time, there were numerous layoffs and people were struggling to find jobs because the Department of Justice was cutting back. “When you see that advertisement, if you do a little research, you’ll find that what she’s touting goes completely against what was happening at the time,” Boudreaux added. “So when she put that picture out there with me in it, I got really upset. That ad is all smoke and mirrors. I do not support her.”
Ward also expressed his disappointment, noting that a simple professional courtesy of notifying them about the ad would have been appreciated. “We’re not hard people to find or to contact.
A simple professional courtesy would have been warning us that it was going to be used,” Ward said. “Just as Sheriff Boudreaux said, I do not in any way want the use of that photo to be construed as support of her, either in her candidacy or even in her tenure as attorney general of the State of California.”
Both Boudreaux and Ward are firm in their stance against the use of their images in the Harris campaign ad. They believe that the ad misrepresents Harris’s record and distorts the truth about her actions as California’s attorney general, making it clear that they do not endorse her for president.
Source: Fox News
