Mark Kelly, a Democrat candidate for the US Senate from Arizona, was forced to apologize for a vulgar comment his deputy press secretary posted to Twitter calling Chicago police officers, “worthless f—king pigs.”
T.J. L’Heureux, who was hired by Kelly’s campaign in August, posted his anti-police sentiment just a week before he was named deputy press secretary to the former astronaut’s campaign. L’Heureux was a media assistant for radical Progressive Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign until March.
Kelly is running against Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ), for one of Arizona’s US Senate Seats
L’Heureux tweeted his anti-law enforcement comment in response to a video showing Chicago police officers seizing open umbrellas from rioting protestors during a violent clash. The umbrellas had been used as shields even as the protesters pelted police with frozen water bottles, rocks, and pipes.
In a stunningly unbelievable apology, L’Heureux 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 offending tweet has since been deleted and L’Heureux’s Twitter profile has been set to private.
Kelly, rather than facing the media, issued a statement through a spokesperson, “As the son of two police officers, Mark deeply respects those who serve in uniform to keep our communities safe…Our campaign values the public service, bravery and sacrifice of police officers across our nation. The tweet posted by a junior staff member is unacceptable and we are taking the appropriate action.”
The McSally campaign responded, “This tweet was written just one week before Mark Kelly hired this person to his campaign team…Mark continues to amplify the most hateful, anti-law enforcement ideas and rhetoric that disrespects and endangers our brave men and women in uniform.”
The executive director of the Arizona Police Association, Joe Clure, called L’Heureux’s statement “disgusting.”
“It sadly isn’t the first time I’ve seen this from Democrat campaign personnel,” Clure told reporters. “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.’”
