At a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Monday, President Trump was asked by Fox News reporter John Roberts to explain the thought process behind his pardon of controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio. Trump pardoned Arpaio on Friday, just shy of one month after the 85-year-old was convicted of criminal contempt for detaining immigrants based on racial profiling.
Trump's pardon of Arpaio came as Tropical Storm Harvey — then a Category 4 hurricane — approached the Texas coast. He told Roberts that the timing wasn't an accident because "in the middle of a hurricane, even though it was a Friday evening, I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally":
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Today's political cartoons - September 14, 2024Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - a second debate, Europe on the menu, and more
-
5 cleverly clashing cartoons about the presidential debateCartoons Artists take on a deepfake debate, winners and losers, and more
-
The Pélicot case: a horror exposedTalking Point This case is unusually horrifying, but the misogyny that enabled is chillingly common
-
Netanyahu makes controversial addressSpeed Reads Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress denounced Gaza war protestors
-
Menendez convicted of bribery, fraud, and extortionSpeed Read The New Jersey Democratic Senator was found guilty in a federal corruption trial
-
Florida judge dismisses Trump documents caseSpeed Read Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
-
Hamas says military chief survived Israeli strikeSpeed Read An Israeli bombing failed to hit its intended target, military commander Mohammed Deif, but killed at least 90 Palestinians
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attemptSpeed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
-
First Israeli report on Oct. 7 finds 'severe mistakes and errors' in IDF responseSpeed Reads Israeli military admits failures in response to deadly Hamas attack that triggered Gaza war
-
Biden saw neurologist during physicalsSpeed Read Following his bad debate performance, many are asking questions about the president's brain
