'Felons of a feather flock together': Outrage as Biden campaign attacks Donald Trump with new video of former president kissing Joe Arpaio

WASHINGTON, DC: President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign targeted former President Donald Trump in an advertisement featuring him with Joe Arpaio on stage.

The advertisement features a moment from a recent rally where Trump brought former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio onstage, hugged him, and blew an air kiss near Arpaio’s ear.

Joe Biden aims to target Latino voters with the advertisement  

Trump told the crowd at the Dream City Church in Phoenix, "I don’t kiss men, but I kissed him," referring to Arpaio.

The new Biden advertisement ends with Trump’s kissing remarks, leading up to that moment with news coverage about Arpaio’s most controversial actions as sheriff.

The digital advertisement is aimed at Latino voters in Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, The Hill noted.

It is because Arpaio is notorious among immigrant communities for his aggressive immigration enforcement policies.

These policies included the construction of an open-air prison "tent city," which Arpaio likened to a “concentration camp” in 2008.

Joe Arpaio was involved in worst pattern of racial profiling

In 2011, the Justice Department found that Arpaio had engaged in the worst pattern of racial profiling by law enforcement in US history.

The decision was made following observations that deputies were stopping cars driven by Latinos disproportionately more often and that jail guards were declining to accept written requests from inmates in Spanish.

The DOJ report was presented by then-Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez, now a senior advisor to Biden, according to the outlet.

In 2012, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Arpaio “to stop discriminatory and unconstitutional law enforcement practices” after he failed to comply with the report’s recommendations. Trump ultimately pardoned Arpaio in 2017.

While Arpaio remains popular with Trump’s base, the Biden campaign is spotlighting the ongoing relationship between Trump and the former sheriff, who is deeply unpopular among Latinos.

 

In 2011, Trump started to question Obama's birthplace during TV interviews, endorsing a false assertion that Arpaio had propagated for years which included public declarations that Obama's birth certificate was fraudulent.

Trump, according to reports, will be in Las Vegas on Sunday, June 9, to launch “Latino Americans for Trump,” his campaign’s rebranded Hispanic outreach effort.

Internet divided over the advertisement 

Internet has shared mixed opinion over the advertisement and the original video. One user on X wrote, "Joe Arpaio should still be in prison. All of Trump's pardons need to be reevaluated." Another user criticized, "Is this all Biden has to offer?"

Some comments suggested that Democrats have lost their edge in creating impactful advertisements with one user saying, "Dems are the worst at memes and ads. They used to be good at it now they’re just lame."

Other reactions were more critical of Trump and Arpaio’s relationship.

"The only ones he can get on stage are the criminals," wrote one user. Another added, "Trump attracts criminals!"

One user highlighted the long-term financial burden Arpaio left on Maricopa County.

"Maricopa County is still paying for Joe Arpaio and will be doing so for another decade or so… thanks Joe you loser. Just shut up and go away." One wrote, "Felons of a feather flock together."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.