Riverside County sheriff says he's ready to put a felon in the White House

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is throwing his support behind Donald Trump for president, saying in an Instagram video over the weekend, "I think it's time we put a felon in the White House."

The sheriff spent spoke in the video about his frustrations with state lawmakers and the attorney general, and what he called their leniency on criminals and lack of support for law enforcement.

Bianco said he has been critical of Gov. Gavin Newsom in recent years for slashing corrections budgets, letting prisoners out early and closing prisons. He also called out the state legislature, alleging that lawmakers passed laws to make it harder to put people in prison.

"And I've been critical of our attorney general for seemingly not caring about crime, and really being an embarrassment to law enforcement," Bianco said of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.  

Bianco said for the last 30 years he's been arresting criminals and putting them in jail, keeping them out of neighborhoods and keeping the community safe.

"I gotta be honest, I'm getting tired…I think we need to go big, you know me — go big or go home," he said.

The sheriff has been in the spotlight recently after his department faced the loss of two deputies in on-duty shooting deaths, just weeks apart from one another in late 2022, into 2023. Bianco presided over both memorial services.

Deputy Isaiah Cordero, 32, was shot and killed Dec. 29, 2022, when making a traffic stop in Jurupa Valley. 

"This tragedy should have been [prevented] by the criminal justice system," Bianco said at the 2023 service for Cordero. "This suspect was on his third strike in 2021. But instead of receiving a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison, a judge lowered his bail. He failed to appear for sentencing ... and the same judge released him again. We would not be here today if this judge had done her job."

On Jan. 13, 2023, Deputy Darnell Calhoun was shot and killed responding to a domestic violence call in Lake Elsinore. He was 30 years old. 

"This love affair our governor and our state legislature has with criminals is based on the belief that criminals aren't responsible for their own actions, but really victims of society, really its our fault, its society's fault, its business's fault, its cops' fault, it might be my fault," Bianco said in the Instagram video.  

Bianco's post and endorsement came after Trump was convicted last week in New York on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records. Trump is the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime.

"Trump 2024, baby," Bianco said in the video. "Let's save this country and make America great again."

On Tuesday, and despite receiving some backlash, Bianco doubled down on his support during an interview with KCAL News. 

"It was almost like that was just my way of showing how crazy that argument is, that we have to disregard real crime — murders, rapists, gangs, drugs — all of those things, and we just need to make sure that he's a felon and we lock him up forever and we can't vote for him," Bianco said. "I mean, it's psychological warfare right now."

Bianco's endorsement is based on his belief that the former president can better address the ever-present homeless crisis in California. He also said he supports his stance on immigration and the crisis at the border. 

"We are ill. California is sick and we are dying," Bianco said. "It is all based on horrible agenda policies and laws."

As far as touting his support while in uniform, which drew criticism from some people on social media, Bianco said he did nothing wrong. 

"I'm an elected official. I am the highest elected official in this county," he said. "I am a politician whether they like it or not. 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, in my personal pages I can do anything that I want. There is only one sheriff's uniform — and that's mine."

Bianco did say that he doesn't support the divisive rhetoric that is often called racist and incendiary by opposition, but his primary concern in the upcoming election is policy. 

"Do I wish someone takes away his phone? Yes I do, but we need better policies," he said. "My number one objective is the safety of our communities."