Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign released an ad this week touting her record on border security.
However, when Harris was appointed the “border czar” by President Joe Biden, she never visited the border.
In the 30-second ad, titled “Tougher,” Harris claims that as a “border state prosecutor,” she “took on drug cartels” and jailed gang members who smuggled weapons and drugs across the border.
“As vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking,” the ad said.
NewsNation pointed out that the ad has “potentially misleading claims about her record.”
As California attorney general, Harris’ issues involved state-level criminal justice matters, the outlet noted. The implication that she was taking down cartel members “appears to stretch the truth,” it added. Other initiatives she touted in the ad were part of strategies being pushed by President Joe Biden’s administration (via NewsNation):
The hiring of additional border agents, mentioned in the ad, is part of the broader Biden administration strategy rather than a specific Harris initiative.
Harris’ efforts against fentanyl trafficking and human smuggling, highlighted in the ad, are part of a larger government strategy involving multiple agencies, not solely driven by the Vice President.
According to The Hill, the new ad will run in Arizona and Nevada.
After the ad came out, a California sheriff claimed he was used in the ad without his permission. He stated that he does not support Harris.
“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 added, explaining that his appearance in the ad with Harris was “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,” 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.”
On Sunday, when the ad was released, former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to slam Harris’ border record.
“Kamala Harris was put in sole charge of the Border. It quickly became the WORST AND MOST DANGEROUS BORDER IN HISTORY. As President, Harris will completely DESTROY OUR COUNTRY!” Trump wrote.