STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known for being tough on immigration, shaking up the race to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake down in Arizona. Joining us right now in his first TV interview is former Maricopa County sheriff in Arizona, Joe Arpaio. Sheriff, good morning to you.
JOE ARPAIO: Hey, good morning.
DOOCY: At 85, why do you want to do this?
ARPAIO: I'm doing it for the people of Arizona, for our country and to support our great president I was with from the day he ran in July of 2015. I said then that he would be our next president. I guess it did happen.
DOOCY: With your long career as a sheriff, what part of that experience would be helpful in the U.S. Senate?
ARPAIO: Well, you know 24 years as a sheriff fighting the drug and illegal immigration problem, which got me in trouble. I have had the [Barack] Obama and [former Attorney General Eric] Holder zero in on me, took them eight years to get me on a contempt misdemeanor. So, I will be talking more about that in the future. But don't forget, I spent 55 years in law enforcement. I was a director in Mexico City, South America, Turkey, you name it, so I wasn't just a sheriff. So I'm going to take all the experience that I've gathered in my career and use it in the Senate.
DOOCY: Do you think you would be using that experience and it would be helpful to help drain the swamp because ultimately -- during the commercial you said that Donald Trump was a heroic figure to you. And he wants to drain the swamp. If you were in the Senate, would you do that as well?
ARPAIO: Oh, I would have a lot of fun. I'm an independent guy. There's no rubber stamps. But the president and I have a good relationship and that's going to be good for Arizona and for our country. And, yeah, there's a lot of people that do not want me to go to Washington, including a few Republicans. But that's OK.
