Donald Trump held a rally at the Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona, on Thursday. In a surprise that can only be described as dreadful, the newly convicted felon brought the racist former sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio, up on stage.
“I don’t kiss men. But I kissed him,” Trump told the audience before launching into praise of the disgraced former sheriff.
“People said he was too tough,” Trump said. “Now they’re saying, where is Sheriff Joe? You know, he’s 177 years old, but we want him back.”
It wasn’t just people who said Arpaio was too tough; it was the judicial system. Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt in 2017 for refusing to obey a court order that prohibited his cruel and abusive racial profiling practices, terrorizing communities of color in Arizona for years. Arpaio’s racist abuse of power cost Arizona taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in legal expenses.
Arpaio was sentenced to jail, but Trump pardoned him. It was the first of many ill-advised pardons for the twice-impeached Trump. At the time, Arpaio seemed to be unaware that by accepting Trump’s pardon, he was also admitting guilt. Arpaio subsequently tried, and failed, to have his conviction expunged.
At the rally, Trump offered the mic to Arpaio, who started with a classic racist joke.
“I want to see your birth certificate,” he said.
The event, hosted by the conservative college group Turning Point Action, which was founded by Charlie Kirk, was exactly as gross as one might expect.
