Former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose hard-line stance against illegal immigration made him a controversial figure nationwide, announced Tuesday that he would run for the Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Flake. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images Arpaio slams Flake as he presses forward with Senate bid

Former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio dismissed criticism from GOP Sen. Jeff Flake on Wednesday morning, telling Fox News that “at least I got the guts to face” voters in this year’s midterm elections.

Arpaio, whose hard-line stance against illegal immigration made him a controversial figure nationwide, announced Tuesday that he would run for the Senate seat being vacated by Flake, who announced last year that he would not seek reelection. Flake, in an interview with CNN on Tuesday afternoon, said he did not expect Arpaio’s candidacy to last long and would not support him because the controversial former sheriff is “not our best foot forward as Republicans.”


“I know he doesn't like me. But who cares? He’s not running. He’s saying that I'm not going to last more than a month. That I’ll leave,” Arpaio said in an interview Wednesday morning on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” “Well, what about him leaving? He didn't have the guts to face the people to get reelected. At least I got the guts to face all the detractors, the Democratic Party, you name it. So he can have his opinion. I got mine. It doesn't bother me at all.”

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A spokesperson for Flake did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In announcing his decision, Arpaio said he was motivated to run in part by a desire to support President Donald Trump. Flake has been perhaps the president's loudest Republican critic.

Flake was also critical of Trump' decision last August to pardon Arpaio after his contempt of court conviction, which stemmed from the then-sheriff’s defiance of a court order to end what a judge ruled to be racial profiling of Latinos. In announcing the pardon, a White House statement noted what it called Arpaio’s “life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration.”