LA County DA Gascon says recall driven by race-based 'fear-mongering' about public safety

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Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is trying to fight off a recall effort to get him voted out of office, but he dismissed the effort as one driven by "fear-mongering," likening it to a decades-old political ad that critics accused of having racial overtones.

Gascon made the accusation during an interview with the "How We Win" podcast, saying that the recall campaign is "really driven by very conservative, very right wing forces" that want to perpetuate a certain culture.

"They have sort of created this false narrative about this is anti-safety, which is kind of the same fear-mongering tactics frankly that you can go back to the Nixon era, right, you know Willie Horton," Gascon said.

The Willie Horton ad was not from the Nixon era, but from when George H.W. Bush was running for president against Democrat Michael Dukakis in the 1988 election. The television spot, put out by a pro-Bush group, used the story of Horton, a convict who escaped during a prison furlough and committed rape, assault, and robbery.

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At the time, temporary furloughs were a common practice, the Horton case made it a key issue. The ad said that the Republican Bush was in favor of the death penalty for first-degree murder, while his opponent, Democrat Michael Dukakis, was in favor of "weekend passes from prison," using Horton as an example.

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Opponents of the ad claimed that it was racist due to its use of images of Horton, including a black and white image of him with an unkempt beard.

In the same interview in which he accused Republicans of fear-mongering in order to oppose him, he took a shot at the GOP by blaming the party for mass shootings.

"Generally I’m a very optimistic person, but unfortunately so long as we continue to have 50 members of Congress that are Republicans and a couple of reluctant Democrats to do what’s right I think we’ll continue to have this problem," Gascon said, likely referring to the Senate.

District Attorney George Gascon speaks at a press conference, Dec. 8, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Robyn Beck/AFP)

"I hate it when people offer prayers, you know, because I think it’s so hypocritical … to offer prayers when especially those that can do something about it are not doing it," he added.

The Recall George Gascon campaign told Fox News that the effort has support from a number of groups. 

"George Gascon has no defense for what he has done to Los Angeles, so instead he resorts to falsely attacking the victims and residents who are fighting back against him," a group statement said. "The recall has bi-partisan support, leadership, and funding.  34 predominantly Democrat cities in Los Angeles County have issued votes of no confidence in Gascon."

"The recall is also supported by Los Angeles Police, Sheriffs, and 98% of Gascon’s own line prosecutors.  It turns out that pretty much everyone is opposed to crime and chaos in their community," the statement continued. 

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During the interview, Gascon went on to express support for a number of gun control methods including universal background checks, red flag laws and waiting periods of as long as "a couple weeks." 

The recall effort is the second attempt by opponents of Gascon, who have sought to blame him, in part, for a surge of crime in the region. He took office in December 2020 and immediately implemented a series of progressive reforms that include not seeking cash bail or the death penalty, not prosecuting children as adults, even for serious crimes, and other measures. 

He claimed that his policies are "based on … years of research, data," and that "I didn’t pull this stuff out of thin air."

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One critic of Gascon supporting the recall effort is one of his own deputies, child abuse prosecutor Jon Hatami.

"We have a district attorney right now who's causing havoc and mayhem in Los Angeles," Hatami told Fox News. "He's hurting public safety here in Los Angeles."

A 2021 recall attempt failed to gather enough signatures by the filing deadline to go to a vote. This time, the Recall George Gascon campaign said it has collected 500,000 signatures as of Monday, leaving them with 67,000 more needed from registered voters by the July 6 deadline to put the recall question on a ballot. 

Fox News' Louis Casiano, Matt Leach, and Jon Michael Raasch contributed to this report.