Liberals lose their minds over Trump's decision to pardon Joe Arpaio — then Trump responds

President Donald Trump announced Friday evening that he had issued a pardon for Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is known as "America's sheriff," and served as the top sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, from 1993-2016.

Liberals and Democrats lost their collective minds over the move.

The announcement

The White House issued a statement late Friday night announcing the pardon.

"Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration," the statement said, according to The Hill.

"Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is a worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon," it added.

Arpaio was convicted on July 31 of criminal contempt for disobeying a federal judge's order to halt an initiative he started to crackdown on illegal immigrants in his jurisdiction. The initiative violated the civil rights of American citizens who had been targeted for their hispanic appearance, the judge concluded. Arpaio continued the program for more than a year after the judge's order to end it.

He had faced a maximum of six months in jail for his crimes before Trump's pardon.

The outrage

Liberals, Democrats, some Republicans and even an Arizona newspaper quickly voiced their displeasure with Trump over the move.

If Donald Trump can get away with pardoning a racist terrorist like Joe Arpaio, no one is safe. Listen, white folks: NO ONE IS SAFE.

— Charles Clymer🏳️‍🌈 (@cmclymer) August 26, 2017

One former Obama administration official even referred to Trump with a Spanish curse word, which typically means "dumbass."

Castro served as former President Barack Obama's secretary of housing and urban development from 2014 to the end of his presidency.

Trump's response

The pardon announcement came amid a busy evening of news. In addition to Hurricane Harvey ravaging the East Texas coastline, Trump officially barred transgender soldiers from serving in the U.S. military. His deputy assistant, Sebastian Gorka, also left the White House on Friday amid scrutiny.

But Trump still found time to respond to news of the pardoning and offer praise for Arpaio.

"I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!" he wrote on his personal Twitter account late Friday.