One week after Sarah Palin’s endorsement heard ’round the world, the Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is notorious for his policies against undocumented immigrants, endorsed Trump for president as well.
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Claim: Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been named as Donald Trump’s running mate. He produces results and is ready to get tough in order to protect American jobs and families.
“The fact that Donald is now afraid to appear on the debate stage, that he doesn’t want his record questioned, I think that reflects a lack of respect for the men and women on Iowa”, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who is in a tight race with Trump for first place in the state, said on Mark Levin’s radio program. “I am proud to support him as the best candidate for president of the United States of America”, Arpaio added.
Arpaio has served as Maricopa County sheriff since 1993, he once flirted with his own gubernatorial run, and has called himself “America’s toughest sheriff”.
With 48 hours to go before the faceoff, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski confirmed Trump’s decision Tuesday evening after a press conference in which Trump lashed out at Kelly and said she’d been “toying” with him.
In a different statement, Trump returned the compliments, admiring Arpaio for his hard reputation against illegal immigration.
Arpaio is well-loved in the tea party movement, and his backing of Trump comes on top of evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s endorsement, also announced on Tuesday. The two met Tuesday in Marshalltown, Iowa, which has one of the state’s largest immigrant populations. Arpaio told the crowd that Trump had taken a tough stance on illegal immigration at a time when “nobody else had the guts to talk about it”.
Supporters hold up their signs while listening to Republican presidential candidate, Sen.
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Arpaio historically has been courted by Republican presidential candidates.
