Obama Advisor Reacts to Trump Pardon of Sheriff Joe with One of Biggest Knee-Slappers of All-Time

As news broke of President Donald Trump pardoning former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, many were quick to denounce his decision. One was Obama-era Foreign Policy Advisor Ben Rhodes.Rhodes stated that unlike President Trump, Obama used his pardons for people who deserved a second chance.During the Obama administration, he granted clemency to more people than any president in over 64 years. In total, he granted clemency to 1,927 people.One of the most controversial commuted sentences he granted was the one he gave to Chelsea Manning, who was in prison for leaking military and diplomatic activities to WikiLeaks when she was in Army intelligence.

Obama used his pardon and commutation power to give a second chance to people who deserved empathy, not racists who showed none. https://t.co/KXhBQk5MHu

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 26, 2017

Just wait until the Russia pardons. https://t.co/RsxoCuVeXv

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 26, 2017

Sheriff Arpaio was an early supporter of Trump because of their agreement on immigration policy. During Trump’s rally in Phoenix on Tuesday, he announced he will pardon the former sheriff, but he wouldn’t do it that night in order to not cause controversy.

“He should have had a jury, but I’ll make a prediction: I think he’s going to be just fine,” he said. “But I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy. Is that OK? But Sheriff Joe can feel good.”