Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a big Donald Trump supporter, and he's also the person responsible for policing in Fountain Hills, Arizona, where protesters shut down the highway earlier today.
In an interview earlier today on MSNBC, Arpaio insisted that Trump isn't responsible for the protests.
"He isn't inciting anybody. It's them who's inciting the riots. It's the demonstrators, the people opposed to Mr. Trump...they don't like our fight against illegal immigration so why would you blame Trump for this," Arpaio asked.
Host Alex Witt then asked, "When Donald Trump says he wants to punch somebody in the face, what if he did that? Would you have to arrest him?"
"He incites riots? What about the former President Fox of Mexico, that called Donald Trump every name in the book? You think that's not inciting anything? Nobody seems to care about that," Arpaio countered.
He added, "I don't see any politicians in our country blasting Mexico for that."
Arpaio then said it was just "nitpicky" to suggest that Trump calling for someone to punch another person in the face was ridiculous.
Whatever the former President of Mexico said, he's not running for the highest office in our country right now. Trump is, so there's no equivalence there whatsoever. And to downplay the constant calls for violence on Trump's part is quintessentially Arpaio, and also utterly untrue.
It's no wonder Arpaio and Trump are such pals. They're both authoritarians who would just as soon be dictators as follow the rule of law.
