Arizona’s most famous sheriff, Joe Arpaio, distanced himself from a fellow conservative sheriff who’s been rocked by scandal in recent days.
Arpaio in the past has been a strong supporter of Sheriff Paul Babeu, a fellow Republican and rising star in the party. He held a fundraiser for Babeu in June and has frequently said nice things about him in public.
But now that Babeu has come out as gay and is facing allegations that he threatened to have a former boyfriend deported, Arpaio told CNN’s John King on Monday afternoon that he wants no part of it.
“He’s going to have to work through this,” Arpaio said in an interview with King. “I’m not going to give him any advice.”
Arpaio also said Babeu asked for his endorsement for the Republican nomination in Arizona’s 4th Congressional District, but Arpaio added that he has no plans to make a decision about that any time soon.