At a news conference last week, retired sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is running for U.S. Senate, declined to expound upon whether the president’s plan to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal would make Americans less safe. “I don’t have all the foreign information. You expect me to know everything. I am not in the Senate yet,” stated Arpaio.  

He also declined to comment on how tariffs on Chinese imports would affect his potential constituents in Arizona. “I know what tariffs are, he said, “but I’m not here to do a history – to educate you on what a tariff is.”

When pressed by reporters, Arpaio was not able to name a single Trump policy that he opposed and said, “I am not a ‘yes man,’ but I do support the majority of his policies, his agenda, and I’m going to continue doing that.” 

Nine months ago, Trump pardoned Arpaio’s criminal contempt-of-court conviction for deliberately ignoring a judge’s order in an immigration case. 

Arpaio was defeated in his 2016 re-election campaign to a Phoenix police sergeant, Paul Penzone, ending his twenty-four-year tenure as Maricopa County sheriff. 

Many believe it will be an uphill battle for the 85-year-old ex-sheriff. Arizona taxpayers have had to pay close to $88 million to cover legal costs in a racial profiling lawsuit due to Arpaio’s immigration patrols. In the coming election, Arpaio will be running against GOP candidates Sen. Kelli Ward and U.S. Rep Martha McSally.