The Senate leaders of both the Republicans and Democrats are offering criticism for President Donald Trump in the wake of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s controversial pardon. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wasn’t about to let Trump’s other Friday action go, either:
“As millions of people in TX and LA are prepping for the Hurricane, the President is using the cover of the storm to pardon a man who violated a court’s order to stop discriminating against Latinos and Ban courageous transgender men and women from serving in our nation’s Armed Forces. Then he ran to Camp David. The only reason to do these right now is to use the cover of Hurricane Harvey to avoid scrutiny. So sad, so weak.”
That last one seemed almost Trumpian, didn’t it? Schumer also used his Twitter account to separately comment on the Arpaio situation. Arpaio was previously convicted of contempt of court for his systematic and illegal racial profiling of Latinos in Arizona, and Trump pandered to his base big time this week by pardoning him of the charges.
Criticism from Democrats is to be expected, but Trump is also drawing blowback from his GOP colleagues. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) opposed the pardon, and in a statement said:
“The speaker does not agree with the decision. 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.”
Both Senators from Arizona (both Republican) also condemned Arpaio’s pardon, worried about rewarding behavior where officials consider themselves above the law and dividing the country even more. This move now brings the number of Trump’s racial minority supporters down to that one black guy who was there at his rally last week.
Watch a short recap of the Arpaio backlash here:
Featured image via Youtube screengrab.
