Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio insisted he was alive and still seeking reelection in November, despite what he said were claims he had died.
“Rumors on Social Media. ‘Joe Arpaio passes away at age 89’. Fake news is disgusting, during virus pandemic,” Arpaio wrote. “My supporters inquired whether I was DEAD. Watch the video below showing me holding today’s Arizona Republic with today’s date. I am strong, healthy, alive and kicking.”
Arpaio, a six-term conservative sheriff from Maricopa County, Arizona, released a video on Twitter in which he held up Monday’s Arizona Republic newspaper as proof he remains alive. Arpaio mistakenly said the date on the paper was May 19. The date was May 18.
“This morning, I picked up the newspaper, and, guess what, it’s dated. I’m going to show you. See? It’s dated. May 19, 2020. So, that’s not fake news, and I’m not fake news,” said Arpaio.
A search of Twitter revealed no reports purporting that Arpaio was dead, and the former sheriff did not specify where he saw the news.
Rumors on Social Media. “Joe Arpaio passes away at age 89”. Fake news is disgusting, during virus pandemic. My supporters inquired whether I was DEAD. Watch the video below showing me holding today’s Arizona Republic with today’s date. I am strong, healthy, alive and kicking. pic.twitter.com/RgKjjOgALz
— Sheriff Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe) May 18, 2020
Arpaio is well known for forcing inmates to live in tent cities. In 2017, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton found Arpaio in criminal contempt of court for not following a different judge’s orders to stop traffic patrols that targeted illegal immigrants. He endorsed President Trump in the 2016 election and told the Washington Examiner in a 2019 interview that he believed he still had the ear of the White House.
In August 2017, Trump pardoned Arpaio. By that time, Arpaio had already left office. In 2016, he lost reelection for the sheriff’s post he held for 24 years. He ran for Senate a year later but finished third in the Republican primary.
He is running in the November election for sheriff and insisted Monday that he is “very healthy, very strong.”
“I’m going to win. I’m not taking any prisoners. I will never surrender. So, I would once again want to say to the world, ‘I’m alive, and I’m kicking, and everyone out there, stay safe,'” said Arpaio, who is 87.
