Ah, the blessings of being a Democrat in post-Obama America.
The campaign spokesman for Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly has apologized for calling police “worthless f—ing pigs” in a tweet posted in August.
Kelly, married to former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in 2011, is locked in an election battle with incumbent Sen. Martha McSally and the tweet “could complicate Kelly’s effort to distance himself from radical anti-police sentiment from the left flank of his party,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Posted one week before T.J. L’Heureux officially joined the campaign as Kelly’s deputy press secretary, the tweet was directed at police officers in Chicago:
L’Heureux, previously a press assistant for Pete Buttigieg’s failed presidential bid, offered a mea culpa Thursday in a statement provided to The Arizona Republic.
“I deeply regret my comment and apologize for what I wrote — I was wrong,” he said. “My comment does not reflect who I am or what I believe, and most importantly, it is not representative of what this campaign stands for. The language I used and the sentiment I conveyed do not belong in our political process, which is why I have deleted the tweet.”
Kelly’s communications director, Jacob Peters, said in a statement that the Senate candidate is the son of two police officers and respects law enforcement, and that the “appropriate action” would be taken against the “junior” staffer.
“Our campaign values the public service, bravery and sacrifice of police officers across our nation,” Peters said, according to the Republic. “The tweet posted by a junior staff member is unacceptable and we are taking the appropriate action.”
Joe Clure, executive director of the Arizona Police Association, a trade association for state law enforcement groups, rejected L’Heureux’s statement, telling the Free Beacon it was “frankly disgusting.”
“It sadly isn’t the first time I’ve seen this from Democratic campaign personnel,” Clure said. “I hope that [Kelly] fires [the staffer] immediately to show that he doesn’t condone this kind of attitude that police are ‘f—ing worthless.'”
Calling McSally a proven leader,” the Arizona Police Association endorsed the GOP senator in September.
McSally has accused Kelly, who is running as a moderate, of supporting the “defund the police” movement, a charge that the Democrat has denied.
Campaign spokesperson Caroline Anderegg told the Republic the incident is another example of Kelly’s “extreme anti-law enforcement ideas.”
“These comments are disgusting and were made just one week before Mark Kelly hired this person, meaning he knew about it and was OK with it,” she said. “It’s further proof that Mark embraces extreme anti-law enforcement ideas and rhetoric. Anything he tries to say to the contrary is a bunch of hot air.”
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Tom@bizpacreview.com
The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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