Matt Salmon, Joe Arpaio-Approved Congressional Candidate, Won’t Explain About-Face on Feelings Towards Sheriff

As we noted this morning, Congressional candidate Matt Salmon’s got nothin’ but love for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio these days — ya know, now that he’s running for Congress and the sheriff sent a political endorsement his way, and all.

But Salmon’s new-found appreciation for the 79-year-old sheriff doesn’t quite jibe with some comments the former Congressman made about Arpaio a few short years ago — after the sheriff endorsed his opponent in the 2002 gubernatorial race.

Salmon, however, won’t explain his about-face when it comes to his feelings towards America’s self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff.”

You see, in a 2005 New Times article,
written by former NT scribe John Dougherty, when asked about Arpaio,
Salmon said the following: “I don’t respect him. I don’t think he’s
playing with a full deck.”

However, yesterday, in a press release announcing that his candidacy for
the District 6 Congressional seat was now Joe Arpaio-approved, Salmon said
the following:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been a tireless advocate for the safety of
Maricopa County citizens for almost two decades. 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.

That’s a pretty glowing critique of a guy for whom Salmon has no respect.

As far as we know, the only thing that’s changed since Salmon said
Arpaio’s not “playing with a full deck” is the fact that Salmon’s now
running for Congress, and an endorsement from the sheriff in Maricopa
County

costs $2,000

is priceless.

Maybe the sheriff — at 79-years-old — has found his deck’s missing cards. We wouldn’t know, though, because Salmon’s campaign has ignored repeated requests for comment. 

We’ve sent Salmon’s campaign spokesman Adam Deguire two emails in the
past 16 hours asking for an explanation about Salmon’s about-face. He responded to neither.

Apparently, Deguire doesn’t want to talk to us, but maybe he’ll explain
former Congressman Salmon’s new-found love for Arpaio to you — the voters — if you
email him at Adam@SalmonforCongress.com.

If he gets back to you, let us know — we’re dying to hear his explanation for Salmon’s switcheroo.