Mark Kelly, Gabrielle Giffords’ widower, is running for Arizona’s Senate seat against Martha McSally. Kelly, a former astronaut, is one of those Democrats who pose as normal Americans. His cover was blown today when it came out that a key campaign aide denounced police officers as “worthless fucking pigs” one week before he went to work for Kelly:
A campaign spokesman for Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly apologized Thursday for a tweet he wrote just before joining the campaign that called police “worthless f–ing pigs.”
T.J. L’Heureux, Mr. Kelly’s deputy press secretary, called police “worthless f–ing pigs” in response to a video that showed Chicago police clashing with protesters in August. He joined Mr. Kelly’s campaign one week later.
L’Heureux deleted his tweet and locked his account. Now he says his absurd attack on law enforcement didn’t reflect “who he is,” one of the lamest of dodges:
“I deeply regret my comment and apologize for what I wrote — I was wrong,” he later said in a statement provided to The Arizona Republic. “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.”
No doubt he, like so many others, regrets that he got caught. Martha McSally responded:
Sen. Martha McSally, Mr. Kelly’s opponent, has repeatedly accused him of supporting the “defund the police” movement, which he denies.
“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,” McSally spokesperson Caroline Anderegg told The Arizona Republic. “It’s just 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.”
The Arizona Senate race has been close, but this fiasco will hurt Mark Kelly, and deservedly so.
