Trump’s use of Hurricane Harvey to distract from his pardon of racist Joe Arpaio hasn’t worked. The American people are outraged and directing their wrath at the President.
The Trump pardon of Arpaio made the convicted racist sound like a national hero in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:
Today, President Donald J. Trump granted a Presidential pardon to Joe Arpaio, former Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Arpaio’s life and career, which began at the age of 18 when he enlisted in the military after the outbreak of the Korean War, exemplify selfless public service. After serving in the Army, Arpaio became a police officer in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, NV and later served as a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), formerly the Bureau of Narcotics. After 25 years of admirable service, Arpaio went on to lead the DEA’s branch in Arizona.
In 1992, the problems facing his community pulled Arpaio out of retirement to return to law enforcement. He ran and won a campaign to become Sheriff of Maricopa County. Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.
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The distraction hasn’t worked.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said, “A man who uses the tools of government to discriminate against innocents and deny civil rights does not deserve a presidential pardon. In the wake of Charlottesville, President Trump is continuing to send the wrong message and abandoning his responsibility to unite our divided country.â€
Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) said in a statement to PoliticusUSA, “The Latino community will remember this Friday night torchlight pardon – in history and at the next election. Pardoned without sentence having been imposed and without having pursued an appeal in order to demonstrate his asserted innocence, Joe Arpaio will go down in history as a federal convict whose misdeeds required presidential intervention; there is no vindication for Arpaio in what transpired on Friday night. Trump, on the other hand, will go down in history as the Apologist-in-Chief who once again implicitly endorsed racism and discrimination, while also sending a message that some people are above the law.â€
CAIR called the pardon unconscionable, “The unconscionable pardon of Joe Arpaio once again sends the troubling message that Mr. Trump sees himself not as president of the United States, but as the leader of a resurgent racist movement within our nation. It is even more disturbing that President Trump would use the cover of a potential natural disaster impacting millions of Americans to avoid public scrutiny of his reprehensible action.”
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, slammed Trump in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, “Instead of a dog whistle, President Trump picked up a bull horn and let out a hateful shout tonight when he pardoned someone who personifies the same bigotry and intolerance we witnessed in Charlottesville. For more than two decades, Sheriff Arpaio terrorized and profiled Arizona’s Latino citizens, was finally voted out of office, and was convicted for failing to follow a court order to cease his unlawful, racist policing. The white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, and others the president excused heard his endorsement of racist and illegal policing policies loud and clear yet again. Trump has, yet again, damaged himself, the rule of law, and our country tonight. This pardon sends a dangerous message that a law enforcement officer who abused his position of power and defied a court order can simply be excused by a president who himself clearly does not respect the law.â€
Trump thought he could hide his racism behind a category four hurricane, but all he did was inspire the wrath of a category 5 level of national outrage to be turned against him. America sees his Arpaio pardon, and they aren’t going to forget his official presidential endorsement of racism.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
