President
Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to pardon former Maricopa County
Sheriff Joe Arpaio during a Category 4 hurricane, saying, “I assumed the
ratings would be far higher.”
Trump also claims it was a popular decision despite criticism from GOP leaders.
Asked
about the Friday night pardon at a joint news conference, Trump praised Arpaio,
who was convicted of criminal contempt after facing accusations of racial
profiling and who ran an infamously brutal “Tent City” jail.
“He’s
done a great job for the people of Arizona,” Trump said. “He’s strong on
borders and strong on illegal immigration. He is loved in Arizona, and I
thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly.”
When
asked about the rationale for the pardon, which did not pass through the usual
pardon process, Trump engaged in whataboutism, bringing up other
controversial presidential pardons, such as President Bill Clinton’s pardon of
billionaire oil trader Marc Rich. He also referred to President Barack Obama’s
commutation of the sentence of Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning. (Obama did
not pardon Manning, despite Trump’s claim that he “perhaps” pardoned her.)
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