Through Spox, Ryan Criticizes Arpaio Pardon: ‘The Speaker Does Not Agree’

UNITED STATES - MAY 25: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., conducts his weekly news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on May 25, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - MAY 25: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., conducts his weekly news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on May 25, 2017. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
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House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Saturday criticized President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of ignoring a judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos based on the suspicion they were undocumented immigrants.

“The speaker does not agree with the decision,” Ryan’s spokesperson, Doug Andres, told the Wall Street Journal. “Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.”

Ryan isn’t the only Republican to criticize Trump’s move: Both of Arizona’s senators did so on Friday, with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) saying it “undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”

Still, much of Trump’s right-wing nationalist base endorsed the move. Kelli Ward, who is challenging the state’s junior senator, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), for his sat in the 2018 Republican Senate primary, cheered Trump’s pardon.

Up until he lost a bid for reelection in November 2016, Arpaio was known nationwide for his extremely harsh detention tactics, especially those aimed at undocumented immigrants. For years, he maintained a facility nicknamed “Tent City” that housed hundreds of inmates outdoors, in the intense Arizona heat. Documentary filmmakers once caught him on camera calling it a “concentration camp.”

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Notable Replies

  1. so glad you #pardoned @RealSheriffJoe - a patriot who did the job the Feds refused to do

    Interesting these assholes somehow believe we’re still living in the Wild West… which actually wasn’t Wild.

  2. What a firm stand—this pardon thing that happened, Ryan says, is a mistake that was made.

  3. Paul “The Weenie” Ryan makes a tepid, “weenie” criticism of the Arpaio pardon via his spox? What a weenie!!

  4. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    Paul Ryan must think it’s possible to disavow our values and traditions for four to eight years, then regain them. I’m not so sure.

  5. Avatar for krux krux says:

    And this was actually the closest thing to a direct criticism we have gotten so far…

    Mr. Mild Cheese himself almost admitted that it was an action of the president’s that he disapproved of.

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