New York Times
By Noah Weiland and Maggie Haberman
August 20, 2017
WASHINGTON — Officials in the White House and in Arizona are bracing for a furious reception to President Trump’s campaign rally in Phoenix this week, amid the fallout from his comments faulting “both sides” for racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Va.
Of particular concern for some officials is the prospect that Mr. Trump may be planning to announce a pardon for Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., who became an avatar for hard-line policies with his roundups of undocumented immigrants. Some of Mr. Trump’s advisers worry that a pardon could deepen the racial wounds exposed in the last week and compound the president’s political problems.
A person close to Mr. Trump said the president had discussed a pardon for Mr. Arpaio, who was found guilty of criminal contempt of court when he defied a judge’s order in a case involving racial profiling. Mr. Arpaio was accused of disregarding a 2011 order from a federal district judge prohibiting deputies from detaining people simply because of immigration offenses.
Mr. Trump made his thoughts public when he told a Fox News reporter on Aug. 13 that he was “seriously considering” a pardon, which would be his first.
Reached by phone at home on Sunday, Mr. Arpaio said that he was not sure why Mr. Trump was thinking of the pardon, and that he had not talked to the president since around Thanksgiving, when Mr. Trump called to ask about the health of Mr. Arpaio’s wife. But Mr. Arpaio would not say whether he had talked to the Trump campaign or White House about the visit Tuesday, or whether he had made formal plans with them to make an appearance.
“I did not have any input. I don’t know what the official comment will be,” Mr. Arpaio said. “He has a mind of his own. We all know that, don’t we?”
Mr. Arpaio had appeared surprised — then flattered — when he learned of Mr. Trump’s interest in the pardon. He told Fox News last Monday that he “would never ask him for a pardon, especially if it causes heat.”
But he said on Sunday that he was “honored by the potential pardon” and would accept it.
Mr. Trump has long admired Mr. Arpaio for what he sees as his no-nonsense posturing against undocumented immigrants.
“Is there anyone in local law enforcement who has done more to crack down on illegal immigration than Sheriff Joe?” Mr. Trump asked during the Aug. 13 Fox News interview. “He has protected people from crimes and saved lives. He doesn’t deserve to be treated this way.”
Mr. Trump’s pardon would pre-empt Mr. Arpaio’s scheduled sentencing on Oct. 5, when he faces up to six months in jail.
Even without an announcement of a pardon, the visit could roil grievances and rallying cries after a week of protests in major cities across the country.
The mayor of Phoenix, Greg Stanton, a Democrat, said in a statement that he hoped Mr. Trump would delay his visit.
“If President Trump is coming to Phoenix to announce a pardon for former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, then it will be clear that his true intent is to inflame emotions and further divide our nation,” Mr. Stanton said.
Privately, national Democrats have said they have concerns about violent clashes. Mr. Stanton said his main priority was public safety.
The city has already readied for what could be a complicated day. Jeri Williams, the Phoenix police chief, said that her department would have “maximum staffing” during Mr. Trump’s visit, and that her officers would be “immediately responsive” in the case of any serious commotion. Both Trump supporters and opponents are planning to demonstrate outside the rally, fueling police concerns about potential clashes.
At a raucous summer rally in Phoenix in 2015, soon after Mr. Trump kicked off his presidential campaign, he made clear that illegal immigration would be a central theme of his candidacy. He brought Mr. Arpaio onstage, as well as Jamiel Shaw, the father of a teenager who was killed by an immigrant in the country illegally.
Arizona state legislators came out swiftly against the idea of Mr. Trump’s trip this week, echoing the mayor’s request for the White House to delay it. Downtown Phoenix’s congressional representative, Ruben Gallego, was part of a group of three Arizona House Democrats that wrote an open letter to Mr. Trump on Thursday asking him not to pardon Mr. Arpaio, citing the former sheriff’s “brazen abuse of the public trust.”
“He’s basically trying again to feed more meat to the alt-right,” Mr. Gallego said Friday on CNN of Mr. Trump’s visit. “I just don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
On Sunday, Republicans addressed the visit, hoping Mr. Trump would not further exacerbate a tense political climate.
“You’re going to go to Phoenix and make a speech? Fine,” John R. Kasich, the Ohio governor, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But when you go, try to use that as an opportunity to say something that’s going to bring people together.”
Mr. Trump’s interest in the state’s politics also surfaced last week when he appeared to endorse one of Senator Jeff Flake’s 2018 Republican primary opponents, Kelli Ward. Mr. Flake has been critical of Mr. Trump for months, scorning the president’s public behavior even as he voted with his legislative priorities.
“Great to see that Dr. Kelli Ward is running against Flake Jeff Flake, who is WEAK on borders, crime and a non-factor in Senate,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “He’s toxic!”
It remains unclear whether Ms. Ward or the state’s governor, Doug Ducey, a Republican, will appear with Mr. Trump on Tuesday.
One of Mr. Trump’s most reliable connections to Republican politics in the state — former Gov. Jan Brewer, who also made border security a signature issue — was quick to stick up for the president after his Tuesday news conference in which he blamed “both sides” for the Charlottesville violence. Appearing on CNN as condemnations of the president piled up, she accused Mr. Trump’s critics of “wanting to go after the president on every little issue.”
“All this rhetoric is all sour grapes,” Ms. Brewer said.
Mr. Arpaio said on Sunday that he planned to be in the area the night of the rally.
“I’m going to be here,” he said. “I’m sure not going anywhere.”
Noah Weiland reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York.
A version of this article appears in print on August 21, 2017, on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: Aides Worry That Trump Could Fuel More Racial Scrutiny With Pardon.
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