A controversial US sheriff who recently received a pardon from US President Donald Trump says the GOP should rally behind the commander in chief.
“They’re trying to go after the president. He’s a great guy and I’m with him and will always be with him,” said Arpaio, a longtime sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Trump announced he was pardoning Arpaio on Friday just as Hurricane Harvey barrelled in towards the state of Texas.
The contentious decision was not expected to be made so rapidly, although the White House had signaled Trump was about to make the unconventional move.
The measure faced backlash from the president’s opponents and members of his own Republican party.
‘I’m sad what they’re doing to him,’ the former Arizona sheriff said after Republican lawmakers complained about the move.
For 23 years, the sheriff has been engaged in pushing his aggressive stance on undocumented immigrants until in 2011 he was…