Rebekah L. Sanders

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ripped into Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio at a rally in northern Arizona on Thursday, after facing criticism from the Clinton campaign for an encounter Sanders’ wife had with the immigration-hardliner sheriff.

The U.S. senator from Vermont said Arpaio’s arrests of undocumented immigrants, often separating families, were “outrageous and unconscionable.”

“It’s easy for bullies like Sheriff Arpaio to pick on people who have no power,” Sanders said. “If I am elected president — the president of the United States does have power. So watch out, Joe.”

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The crowd of about 900 erupted in cheers. Another 1,900 people who couldn't fit in the ballroom at the Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort near Flagstaff listened to Sanders address them from outside the venue. The crowds were estimated by resort officials.

Sanders spoke to the crowd, which included university students from nearby Northern Arizona University, and residents of Flagstaff and the Navajo Reservation, for about 50 minutes.

Sanders’ challenge to Arpaio, harsher than his stump speech at a Tuesday rally in Phoenix, comes after Arizona supporters of Hillary Clinton have come down on the anti-establishment candidate for his immigration stances.

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They have criticized Sanders for voting in 2006 for an amendment that would expand lengthy detentions of some undocumented immigrants.

And other Clinton supporters, including U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., have called the Sanders campaign visit on Monday to Arpaio’s infamous outdoor detention center, Tent City, a media ploy.

“The Sanders campaign played into one the easiest and most damaging cliches in Arizona politics: going to Sheriff Joe Arpaio to get news coverage,” Gallego, a longtime sheriff foe, said in a Facebook statement. "... Attempting to 'confront' Arpaio in front of news cameras only gives him what he wants. Like Donald Trump, Joe Arpaio is fueled by controversy played out over surface-level, sensationalized news coverage. … If the Sanders campaign is serious about winning over Latino voters in Arizona, they need to take a less naïve approach to expressing their candidate’s policies.”

Follow Rebekah L. Sanders on Twitter: @RebekahLSanders

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