John McCain Lays Into Lawless Trump’s Pardon Of Bigot Ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain tore into Donald Trump’s decision to pardon bigot ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday, saying in a statement that Arpaio “illegally profiled Latinos” and “has shown no remorse for his actions.”

The full statement from the GOP senator, who represents Arpaio’s state:

No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders. The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.

The Arizona senator also slammed another Trump move late on Friday, calling the president’s order kicking transgender people out of the military a “step in the wrong direction.”

“It would be a step in the wrong direction to force currently serving transgender individuals to leave the military solely on the basis of their gender identity rather than medical and readiness standards that should always be at the heart of Department of Defense personnel policy,” the former GOP nominee said in a statement.

McCain’s tough critiques aren’t the first time he has gone after Trump in recent weeks. Last month, McCain’s decisive “no” vote essentially killed the president’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The Arpaio pardon comes at a time when Trump is already under fire for showing sympathy for and even defending white supremacists and alt-right Nazis in the wake of the racially motivated terrorist attack in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Instead of putting out the post-Charlottesville flames, the president’s decision to defend and exonerate the racist Arizona sheriff just adds gasoline to the blaze.

It shows just how little Donald Trump cares about national unity and the rule of law.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.