President Donald Trump will not announce a pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio at a Tuesday rally in Arizona.
“There will be no discussion of that today at any point, & no action taken on that front at any point today,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One. There was wide speculation ahead of Trump’s rally in Phoenix that he will announce a pardon for Arpaio, who is a Trump supporter and was convicted of criminal contempt by a federal judge.
Fox News recently reported that Trump told the outlet, “I am seriously considering a pardon for Sheriff Arpaio. He has done a lot in the fight against illegal immigration. He’s a great American patriot and I hate to see what has happened to him.”
Trump subsequently retweeted Fox’s report. Notably, Sanders’ comments did not rule out a potential future pardon for Arpaio.