One of the more controversial names in the news in recent years has been former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. After being convicted of criminal contempt earlier this summer for allegedly racially profiling immigrants, Donald Trump has decided to let the sheriff off the hook.

Trump on Arpaio

When Donald Trump announced that he was running for president, he brought with him a certain level of controversy that was not seen before him. Trump's remarks about illegal immigrants from Mexico being "rapists" and "murderers" caused massive backlash, as the former host of "The Apprentice" widened the political divide in the country.

Since Trump's upset election win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last November, the billionaire real estate mogul has found a way to ruffle even more feathers, causing his approval rating to drop to just 35 percent in the most recent round of polling. Fast forward to present day and it's been just four weeks since Trump supporter Joe Arpaio, former Arizona sheriff, was convicted by a federal judge of criminal contempt for disobeying federal orders in regards to detaining alleged illegal immigrants. Reported by the Associated Press on August 25, the president has decided to step in.

According to the Associated Press on Friday night, Donald Trump has made his decision to pardon Joe Arpaio on the night Hurricane Harvey is expected to hit Texas.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was grilled on the issue during a press briefing earlier this week, and noted that the president would make his decision when it was an "appropriate time."

Twitter reacts

As expected, Donald Trump's pardon of Joe Arpaio did not go over well with his critics on social media. "DT is so incredibly not racist he just pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is racist.

And technically, an 'Illegal,' comedian John Fugelsang tweeted out.

"Trump: There's a hurricane, it's Friday night, people are tired, perfect time for me to pardon Fmr Sheriff Joe Arpaio," Scott Dworkin wrote.

"Fmr. sheriff #JoeArpaio shows embarrassing contempt for rule of law by hiding behind disgraceful pardon by @POTUS to escape punishment," Xavier Becerra tweeted.

"Trump assault on democracy: Decides govt official not accountable to the law for violating constitutional rights!" Lawrence Krauss added.

"In the midst of a cat 4 hurricane, Trump has pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio and signed the military transgender ban," Yashar Ali noted. The negative attention continued as it was obvious that Donald Trump and his opponents were not going to get on the same page at anytime in the near future.
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