Joe Arpaio Still Hasn't Made Peace With His Own Demise

Joe Arpaio Still Hasn’t Made Peace With His Own Demise
Why is the 92-year-old former Maricopa County sheriff running for mayor of his hometown? Maybe because he can’t stop.

Tim Murphy
National Correspondent


(Mother Jones) When former president Donald Trump appeared at Dream City church in Phoenix in early June, he was visited on stage by a ghost from his past.

“Do you remember you had your sheriff, Sheriff Joe?” Trump said, looking off toward the crowd. “Is he here? I used to love that guy. Where is Sheriff Joe?”

From somewhere in the auditorium’s lower level, 92-year-old Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, shuffled his way slowly up toward the podium. “I didn’t know he was here—come here, Joe,” Trump said. He extended his arms dramatically as Arpaio approached, hugged him tightly, and kissed him on the cheek. Arpaio said a few words, wished Trump a happy birthday, and walked gingerly back toward his seat.

“Grab that railing, Joe!” Trump said. “Because you don’t want to pull a Biden.”

Arpaio made it down the stairs safely. But he has not exited the stage. Although neither he nor the ex-president mentioned it, Arpaio is running for office this year, after a tumultuous fall from grace and a criminal trial of his own. In 2022, after losing two straight campaigns for sheriff; getting convicted of contempt; receiving a pardon from Trump; losing another campaign for Senate; and burying his wife of 63 years; Arpaio ran for mayor of his hometown of Fountain Hills, a master-planned city of 25,000, nestled in the foothills of the McDowell Mountains about 45 minutes northeast of downtown Phoenix. He lost by 200 votes, claimed fraud, produced no evidence, never conceded, and just kept on running. ...............(more)

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/joe-arpaio-still-hasnt-made-peace-with-his-own-demise/