John Oliver Hammers Trump’s Joe Arpaio Pardon

"I do not doubt that Trump thinks everything that Joe Arpaio did was or should be part of a law enforcement officer's job. And that is the real problem here," the HBO host said.

John Oliver made it clear Sunday on his HBO show that President Trump's pardon of the controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio sets a dangerous precedent.

On his show, Last Week Tonight, Oliver began his main segment on the disgraced Arpaio by describing him as “a man who answers the question: What if a decaying rotten potato somehow hated Mexicans?”

Trump issued his first presidential pardon to Arpaio late last month, after the 85-year-old was convicted of criminal contempt related to his department going after undocumented immigrants.

Trump, who invited Arpaio to speak at the RNC and on the campaign trail, previously said during recent rallies that the former sheriff was "just doing his job." Oliver made sure his viewers knew that was highly inaccurate.

“You wouldn’t say that John Wayne Gacy was just doing his job, even though he was, by all accounts, a pretty good birthday clown,” Oliver joked of the mass-murderer.

Oliver mixed facts with pithy remarks, getting one of the bigger laughs when he commented on Arpaio forcing male jail inmates to wear pink underwear and striped prison clothes.

“That is just awful,” Oliver said. “The pink underwear is fine, but no one should be forced to wear horizontal stripes. They widen the silhouette; that is a fact. That’s a fashion fact.”

Bottom line, Oliver said the move was disturbing.

"I do not doubt that Trump thinks everything that Joe Arpaio did was or should be part of a law enforcement officer's job. And that is the real problem here," the host said. "That is why this pardon is a slap in the face to Latinos who Arpaio and his department unconstitutionally targeted. And Trump giving him a pass after everything you have seen tonight ... is a loud confirmation that, at least as far as this White House is concerned, law enforcement won't necessarily be expected to do their jobs the way the Constitution or the courts say they should. Instead, like Sheriff Joe Arpaio, they should absolutely feel free to do their job..." he said, cutting to a clip of Arpaio singing "My Way."