Trump suggests he will pardon controversial Arizona sheriff

The president’s divisive remarks on Charlottesville violence lead thousands to gather outside the arena.

President Trump on Tuesday stopped short of pardoning former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio but signaled to a boisterous rally crowd here that such a move could be coming soon, saying “I think he’s going to be just fine.”

“I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy,” Trump said of Arpaio, who was convicted last month of criminal contempt for ignoring a federal judge’s order to stop detaining people because he merely suspected them of being undocumented immigrants.

Trump last week told Fox News that he was “seriously considering’’ a pardon for Arpaio and said he might do it soon, sparking speculation he would use Tuesday’s campaign here to make the move.

At the outset of the rally, a defiant Trump also blamed the media in an extended diatribe for the widespread fallout he’s received over his reaction to the hate-fueled violence in Charlottesville.

Trump opened his rally by selectively recounting the series of statements he made in the days following the melee, arguing that he “spoke out forcefully against hatred and bigotry and violence” but that the media — whom he called “sick people” — refused to report it properly.

Source: At Phoenix rally, Trump suggests he will pardon controversial Arizona sheriff – The Washington Post