WATCH: Kari Lake’s Democrat Senate Opponent Ruben Gallego ADMITS His Father is a Convicted Mexican Drug Trafficker – Is This Why He Supports Open Borders? | The Gateway Pundit

Arizona Democratic Congressman and US Senate Candidate Ruben Marinlarena-Gallego just about cried last week when a reporter rehashed his “connection to drug cartels” after Kari Lake accurately reminded voters of Gallego’s family ties.

Notably, he did not deny having what the reporter described as a “connection to drug cartels” or that his father “works for the cartels.” Instead, he proceeded to smear his Trump-Endorsed opponent, Kari Lake, and cry victim.

“My father, who abandoned my family, is a convicted drug dealer,” Gallego admitted in the teary-eyed performance.

WATCH:

This seemingly comes in response to Lake recently calling Marinlarena-Gallego out on the Afternoon Addiction with Phoenix and Tucson radio host Garret Lewis, saying he’s “controlled by the cartels” and accurately pointing out that his father is a convicted drug trafficker.

“Do you think that guy is going to take On the cartels? He’s owned by the cartels,” said Lake.

Gallego, formerly Ruben Marinlarena, legally changed his name on August 7, 2008, and later defended himself in an election lawsuit, which asked the court that he be required to display his full name on the ballot.

Gallego apparently did not want voters to know who his father was.

In June 2014, Gallego released the following statement, which he later removed from his campaign webpage, claiming that the decision was made to honor his mother. While this may be true, it is a politically convenient excuse.

I was raised by a single mom and changed my name to honor the woman who raised me. I have been very open about this decision and the circumstance behind it.

My mom is an immigrant and struggled every day to raise four kids on her own. Our family never had enough, but she gave all she had to make sure her kids got an education and an opportunity to succeed. Two of us went to Harvard on scholarships, and my sister is going to be a doctor. My mom’s last name is Gallego.

My father abandoned my family when I was young. His choice to leave made my life and the lives of my three sisters much harder. I slept on the floor until I went to college and my sisters and I had to rely on the free lunch program to make sure we ate. His last name is Marinelarena.

My mom is the reason I have had so many incredible opportunities in my life. I’m very proud to have her name.

In the state legislature, I fought to make sure working mothers like my own were not taken advantage of by a system that already makes it extremely difficult to raise a child on your own. In Congress, I’ll continue to fight for working moms because I know firsthand how far they go for their kids.

Ironically, despite distancing himself from his drug-dealing father and claiming he was “abandoned,” Ruben Gallego walked out on his wife when she was nine months pregnant and abandoned his newborn son. He later shacked up with a DC lobbyist with whom he had a wedding shrouded in mystery.

It looks like the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. His pro-cartel record in Congress would make his father proud.

Gallego’s pro-cartel open borders record includes voting against increasing penalties for illegal immigrants who reentered the United States multiple times, voting against removing “gang members, national security threats, and other public safety threats from our country to keep our families, our communities, and our Nation safe,” voting against Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the Southern Border, and voting against the Secure the Border Act in 2023.

Meanwhile, he cosponsored the Safeguarding Sanctuary Cities Act of 2017, voted to give $1,200 to illegals with the HEROS Act, urged Biden to end Trump’s Title 42 COVID-19 illegal immigration restrictions, and voted to “impose limitations on the President’s authority to suspend or restrict aliens from entering the United States” with HR 1333.

Gallego further published a 2017 op-ed titled “Why we should not build Trump’s border wall (ever),” where he claimed that illegal immigration is “a problem that doesn’t exist.” A year later, Gallego also called Trump’s border wall “stupid” and “useless.”

Military families are on food stamps but @realDonaldTrump wants to use $25 billion for his stupid, useless border wall.

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) March 27, 2018

As investigative reporter Laura Loomer pointed out in a series of tweets, highlighting a recent fundraiser with Fast and Furious architect Eric Holder and his father’s record, “His one degree of separation to Mexican cartels is disqualifying for someone running for US Senate.”

Ruben Gallegos’s father trafficked drugs for the Mexican drug cartels. Is this why Ruben @RubenGallego is pro open borders?

Is he in business with the cartels?

Has anyone ever examined his bank records?

His one degree of separation to Mexican cartels is disqualifying for… https://t.co/Y3pikG1PDp

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 7, 2024

Kari Lake also said, “I want to confront the cartels. My opponent wants to coddle them.”

I want to confront the cartels.
My opponent wants to coddle them.

America First https://t.co/PbH6Ay3tVi

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 7, 2024