‘Sheriff Joe’ Arpaio says he’d be honored by Trump pardon

The bombastic former sheriff of Maricopa Country, Ariz., Joe Arpaio, who was found guilty of criminal contempt last month, said he would be honored if President Trump decided to pardon him. 

“It makes me feel good that at least someone is backing me up. And how much better can you get than president of the United States?” Arpaio, who was a vocal Trump ally during the 2016 presidential campaign, told NPR on Thursday. 

Arpaio’s comments come after the president said on Monday he was “seriously considering” pardoning the controversial former law enforcement official. 

{mosads}“He has done a lot in the fight against illegal immigration. He’s a great American patriot and I hate to see what has happened to him,” Trump told Fox News.

Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt in July for willfully violating a federal judge’s order to stop racial profiling.

He is set to be sentenced in October.

“As far as the situation on a pardon, I didn’t ask for it but I will accept it if he does do it,” Arpaio said. “This president understands what I’ve been going through. There aren’t many politicians around believe me. I learned that real quick over this situation. You don’t see anybody next to me and I’ve endorsed so many people.”

The former sheriff also said he supports Trump in holding a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday despite reservations that it comes too soon after the racial violence in Charlottesville, Va., during a rally organized by white supremacists to protest the removal of a Confederate statue on Saturday. 

Arpaio has not been invited to the rally as of yet.