Sheriff Chad Bianco speaks with KESQ after public endorsement of Donald Trump
This month, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his public endorsement of former President Donald Trump for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
In a video posted to Instagram, Sheriff Bianco shared his endorsement and frustrations about lenient California state laws and leadership.
You can read and watch the original report here.
Sheriff Bianco said that he filmed the video as a direct response to former President Donald Trump's conviction last month.
“That was just my way of showing how crazy that argument is that we have to disregard real crime, murderers, rapists, gangs, drugs, shootings. 'We just need to make sure that he's a felon, and we lock him up forever, and we can't vote for him.' I mean, it's psychological warfare right now. It just struck me as really funny, very ironic and extremely hypocritical," said Bianco.
Some have questioned the ethics and legality of Sheriff Bianco's public endorsement of a candidate while in uniform.
Sheriff Bianco told News Channel 3 the following in response to questions about those criticisms:
"I'm an elected official. I am the highest elected official in this county. I am a politician whether they like it or not. And so then when I act like a politician, all of a sudden it's bad?…I am an elected official 24/7, 365 days and there is no other person like me, in our sheriff's office. I am not your regular deputy. I don't answer to the Board of Supervisors. I don't answer to any city council. I answer to the general public and I am an elected official. And with that, on my personal pages, I can do anything that I want, there is only one sheriff's uniform, and that's mine.“
