Arpaio Claims He Didn’t Know Magazine Was Anti-Semitic – After Fifth Interview
Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona Sheriff and current Republican Senate candidate, is claiming he didn’t know that the American Free Press was anti-Semitic, even though he just gave them his fifth interview, according to the Washington Post.
Yesterday, Arpaio explained his position on Twitter. “It was brought to my attention I gave interview to publication that supports antisemitism; I was unaware and don’t support that view point.”
The Post counted at least five interviews Arpaio gave the publication, which has published articles titled, “Someone Tell Trump: It was Jews, Not Arabs, Dancing on 9-11,” “Jews Who Control Hollywood Tell Stars: Better Not Mention Palestine,” and an audio interview titled “Holocaust Hoax Exposed.” In 2014, Phoenix New Times contacted Arpaio’s office regarding interview with the Free Press and received this statement from a spokesperson: “The sheriff does hundreds of interviews with different people and doesn’t do background checks on them before he does them.”
Arpaio was sheriff of Maricopa County for over two decades, where he implemented controversial practices in detaining immigrants. Voted out of office in 2016, he was convicted of criminal contempt for ignoring a judge’s order to stop detaining immigrants only on suspicion that they were in the country without documentation. President Trump pardoned him last year.
Contact Avichai Scher at scher@forward.com or on Twitter, @avi_scher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.