Half of Arizonans in poll side against Trump pardoning Arpaio in Phoenix
Aug 21, 2017, 8:26 AM | Updated: 4:34 pm
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — Half of Arizonans polled said former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio shouldn’t be pardoned during President Donald Trump’s upcoming Phoenix rally.
Valley-based OH Predictive Insights’ poll, released Monday a day before the presidential visit, surveyed 1,065 residents online from Aug. 18 to Aug. 20. An even 50 percent said Trump shouldn’t pardon Arpaio, an ardent supporter of the president, at the Convention Center gathering.
“Half of Arizonans say pardoning Sheriff Joe Arpaio at the Phoenix rally is a bad choice,” chief pollster Mike Noble at OH Predictive Insights, said.
Groupings for the survey were 55 years or older and 54 years or younger. Of the older group, 51 percent said, “no” to the question: “This coming Tuesday, President Donald Trump will be in Arizona to hold a rally. Do you think President Donald Trump should pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio at the event?”
Only 21 percent of the combined group said “yes.” The older set was higher at 31 percent. “Don’t know” garnered 29 percent overall.
Trump told Fox News last week that he was seriously considering granting the former lawman a pardon of a criminal contempt conviction. The judge concluded Arpaio had purposefully ignored an injunction to cease his immigration patrols.
“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 said.
Arpaio, who held office for 24 years, was found guilty in July. United States District Judge Susan R. Bolton found the 85-year-old guilty of the misdemeanor that could bring a six-month jail sentence, though that was unlikely.
His lawyers said he would appeal.