Harkey Deals with More Deplorables, Demands Foe Refund a “Despicable”

As Diane Harkey deals with another endorsement on her campaign website from a bigoted and nutty conspiratorial group, the Republican is calling on her 49th congressional district Democratic opponent to return contributions from a PAC run by a congressman accused of having molested a teen girl.

We recently reported that shortly after progressive watchdog Media Matters pointed out San Diegans for Secure Borders’ penchant for sharing white nationalist propaganda and attacking Latino and Muslim immigrants as foreign invaders, their endorsement disappeared from Harkey’s site. 

But here’s the deal with nutty groups such as these. There are a ton of them, which may perhaps explain why–at least as of this writing–Harkey’s site is still touting an endorsement from San Diego Patriots. As Media Matters has also shown, SDP has trafficked in bigotry against Latinos and Muslims and stated that the Parkland mass shooting “just reeks of a false flag” attack.

On April 24, 2017, SDP responded to an NBC News profile of Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar by writing, “Watch out for this snake running for Congress in the 50th District against Duncan Hunter. He’s a left wing, open border Arab/Latino. Worked directly for Obama.” They added, “He’s half Palestinian (and lived there) and half Mexican, but he converted from Islam to Christianity (or so he says) after 9/11. But he’s against vetting unknown Muslim refugees and potential terrorists, like the San Bernardino shooter. Hmmmm. He’s also 100% open borders, of course.”

Yes, SDP, which has also organized recent events with San Diegans for Secure Borders, on May 6, 2017, encouraged people to listen to a radio interview with the latter group’s controversial founder Jeff Schwilk, who would be speaking “about the invasion in San Diego of unvetted Muslim refugees and of course foreign criminals (aka illegal aliens) from Mexico.” 

Days after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, SDP shared the viral but fake information asserting shooter Nikolas Cruz was a registered Democrat. It was March 18 when SDP carried the false flag bit about Parkland. Next, on April 1, the group spread the fringe conspiracy theory that Parkland survivor David Hogg wasn’t actually a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, writing, “David Hogg involved with an incident in California last year! Is he really from here? What’s the truth about this guy?” 

At least SDP could write that last one off as an April Fool’s Day joke. One doesn’t know what to make at what the group posted on April 4, which was one day after the shooting at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno: an image of Hogg and fellow Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez. It was a busy day: Also on April 4, SDP shared a post from the Facebook group SoCal Patriots that called California Attorney General Xavier Becerra a “Mexican enemy insurgent within our state government. … #LockHimUp.” 

Brietbart broke the news Monday that Harkey called on her opponent Mike Levin to return $10,000 from CHC BOLD PAC, which is chaired by Representative Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles), who has refuted allegations he drugged and fondled a teen girl in 2007 while her served on the LA City Council.

“It’s hypocritical for Mike Levin to grandstand about victims’ rights while accepting money from someone accused of such despicable acts,” Harkey told Brietbart’s Michelle Moons. “Some things are beyond politics. Mike Levin needs to do the right thing and return the $10,000 he received from Cardenas’ BOLD PAC. To accept the donation knowing where it comes from condones the alleged activity.”

To bring this post full circle, among the many Democrats who have received contributions from Cardenas’ PAC is Campa-Najjar.

The Breitbart story was published the same day the San Diego Union-Tribune’s editorial board revealed Levin was its “easy pick” for the 49th, which retiring Representative Darrell Issa (R-Vista) barely managed to keep from going blue in 2016, when the same district went for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.

A recent New York Times/Siena College Poll found Levin leading Harkey 51 percent to 41 percent with 8 percent undecided.

Based on 507 interviews, the poll found that Levin, a lawyer who has been active in environmental and clean-energy causes, had a 36 percent favorable rating, 12 percent unfavorable and 52 percent didn’t know.

Harkey, a former Dana Point mayor and council member and state legislator, and current California Board of Equalization chairwoman, had a 27 percent favorable rating, 18 percent unfavorable and 55 percent didn’t know.