Congressional candidate Matt Salmon picked up the endorsement of South Dakota Senator John Thune yesterday, but he still won't explain his recent about-face in regards to how he feels about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Last month, Arpaio endorsed the former congressman in his bid to become the GOP nominee for the seat getting vacated by Congressman Jeff Flake. Salmon then penned a glowing review of the sheriff's job performance.
"Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been a tireless advocate for the safety of
Maricopa County citizens for almost two decades," Salmon says in a press release announcing the endorsement. "He understands how
important it is to protect our national borders against illegal
immigration and he knows I will make that a top priority in Washington. I
am grateful for his confidence in my ability to represent the best
interests of our communities."
But Salmon wasn't always Arpaio's number one fan. As we've noted in prior posts, New Times dredged up several comments made by Salmon about
Arpaio. In short, as of 2005, Salmon's feelings towards America's
self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" are as follows: he doesn't like him,
he doesn't respect him, he doesn't think he's "playing with a full
deck," and he compared him to Barney Fife.
Click here for more Arpaio bashing, courtesy of former Congressman Salmon.
Salmon's campaign spokesman Adam Deguire has flat-out refused to respond to New Times' multiple requests for an explanation of the switcheroo.
As such, we've come up with our own explanation: Salmon has no
principles and has caved
to Arizona Republican politics in order to get elected -- and he refuses
to talk about it because why bother, he's leading the polls?
If you'd also like Salmon's explanation as to why a Congressional candidate, who once said he had no respect for Joe Arpaio, would now refer to the sheriff as a "tireless advocate for the safety of Maricopa County citizens for almost two decades" now that he's running for Congress, email Deguire at [email protected].