After Vice President Joe Biden said he feels “almost obliged” to apologize to Mexicans for Republican presidential candidates’ rhetoric about immigration, Fox host Neil Cavuto brought on Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the obvious hope that he’d smack down Biden, Mexicans and, if they were really lucky, question President Obama’s birth certificate while he was at it.
Birther and bigot Arpaio was also asked about former Mexican president Vicente Fox's response to Donald Trump’s claim that he’ll build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and get Mexico to pay for it. On FBN, Fox said, “We are not paying, I am not going to pay for that f-ing wall—I am not—and he should know that. I am not going to apologize.”
“That is weird isn’t it Sheriff?” Cavuto said, by way of prodding Arpaio to hit back at Fox.
“If he’s going to use that word, he should use it against all the dope peddlers and illegals coming in our country,” Arpaio said. He added, “At least he said one thing, they’re not going to pay for the wall. He didn’t say there should not be a wall. If they don’t want to pay for it, take away a little foreign aid that we give Mexico, and then they’ll pay for it.”
“I think that’s what Donald Trump meant,” Cavuto replied. “The Mexicans we’re told are offended by that, what do you say?”
Arpaio was not quite as hard-hitting as you might expect. He said, “I’ve been trying to get to meet the Mexican officials since I was director in Mexico City, they stonewalled me. I tried to meet with the pope, I’m convinced the Mexican government stonewalled that visit in Juarez.” He argued, “So what?” if the Mexican government dislikes him, he and Trump will continue doing their jobs.
So Cavuto switched gears. “You always get elected and re-elected by overwhelming margins for sheriff” and then asked what Arpaio thinks of poll numbers showing that Trump might suffer with Latino voters.
Arpaio is hardly the electoral shoo-in Cavuto described. As The Arizona Republican notes, Arpaio won re-election last time with only 50.7 of the vote. In September, his approval rate was only 38%. Many in his own party think he should retire. And then there’s that contempt of court case pending against him. Currently, it’s a civil case but it could turn into a criminal case.
Nevertheless, Arpaio thinks Trump is doing just great with Hispanics. “He did great in Las Vegas with the Hispanic vote, so I think that Hispanics like a fighter. He’s a fighter, and I think they like his business background, and so I think he’ll get a lot of Hispanic votes.”
Actually, Trump’s victory with Hispanics in Nevada was a hollow one. And his future is not bright in that regard. According to a recent poll, Trump has the worst negatives with Hispanics than the other GOP candidates. The Washington Post reports, “8 in 10 Hispanic voters have an unfavorable view of Trump. That includes more than 7 in 10 who have a ‘very unfavorable’ impression of him, which is more than double the percentage of any other major candidate."
But Arpaio said, “Don’t believe the polls.”
Watch him below, from the February 27 Cost of Freedom special.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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