A couple weeks ago, the California Democratic Party made a shocking move: instead of backing incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein (D), the state party decided to endorse her opponent, former State Senate Leader Kevin de León (D).
In a rather interesting turn of events, the San Francisco Chronicle, a well-known liberal newspaper in the Golden State, ran a piece about de León, pointing out his blatant hypocrisy.
According to The Chronicle, de León made a backroom deal with his Democratic colleagues when he was talking about running against Feinstein. Instead of outright handing over his position to Toni Atkin, they declared him “president pro tempore emeritus," which allowed him to keep his car and driver for the duration of his term, which ends at the end of the year. And yes, that includes during the times he is campaigning.
The reason de León got to keep his security detail? Because he was receiving threats while stomping for gun control (emphasis mine):
Atkins was traveling, but in a statement she said the driver and car was “a courtesy extended to the pro tem emeritus for his security, considering numerous death threats against him.”
Secretary of the Senate Daniel Alvarez, whose office oversees the protection detail, told us de León “got more threats than anybody else” in the leadership job because of his prominent role in advocating for gun control and making California a sanctuary state.
“People were spitting on him,” Alvarez said.
Jonathan Underland, communications director for de León, told us his boss continues to be assigned security on a regular basis “consistent with past processes and the high volume of serious threats against him.”
Apparently the Senate hopeful has received threats where people claim to know where his family lives. Others have claimed to put cameras outside of his house as a form of intimidation.
Alvarez told The Chronicle that he estimates that California taxpayers are paying roughly "a couple hundred thousand dollars" for security detail for Atkins and de León.
The Chronicle asked the million dollar question about why de León's campaign isn't paying for a security detail:
As for why de León isn’t paying for the car and security from his U.S. Senate campaign coffers?
“It’s just a judgment you have to make,” Alvarez said.
While The Chronicle didn't come out and directly say it, they were pointing out two things: for one, taxpayers shouldn't be paying for de León to have a security detail. If he's truly afraid for his life then his senate campaign needs to cough up the dough for those who are protecting him. And two, the threats he's receiving is a direct result of his policy push for gun control and sanctuary cities.
After all, what's better than a gun control advocate having an armed security detail to protect them while they work to disarm the average American?