Overview
- Onstage during a nationally televised debate, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said he was “very proud” of his past Oath Keepers ties after Antonio Villaraigosa pressed him.
- Pressed by moderator Kaitlan Collins on whether he meant the group, Bianco invoked his oath to the Constitution and then said he is not a member.
- Villaraigosa said an Oath Keeper is not qualified to be governor, and Xavier Becerra called Bianco’s answer “chilling.”
- At one point, Bianco used a “child molesters” hypothetical to argue against guilt by association, drawing a startled “What?” from Villaraigosa.
- The Oath Keepers are a far-right militia whose members joined the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, which makes any link especially fraught for a sitting sheriff seeking statewide office.