Trump pardon of Arizona Joe does irreparable harm to GOP

Donald Trump was wrong to pardon Arizona Joe
Arpaio, the former sheriff of Phoenix who illegally targeted Latinos- and who was sent to federal prison for his crimes.

In the pardon, Donald Trump has negatively branded Republicans as right wing extremists.

Former Arizona sheriff Joe Aripaio- poster for right wing extremism

Indeed, of all the people in the world who understands the importance of "branding", in forming opinions about people and products, it's Donald Trump who should realize how damaging his pardon of the bigot, Arizona Joe, is to the Republican party. 

In this horrible pardon, Arizona Joe is now the poster for right wing extremism, bigotry and racism. There was absolutely no reason to pardon Arizona Joe; but Donald Trump did it just because he could. In so doing, the pardon has branded the Republican party as a safe harbor for extremism, providing a place where all who subscribe to racist thinking can feel like they are protected from being labeled as weirdos. 

“With his Arpaio pardon, Trump has chosen lawlessness over justice, division over unity, hurt over healing,” Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement Friday. 

“Once again, Donald Trump acted in support of illegal, failed immigration enforcement practices that target people of color and have been struck down by the courts. His pardon of Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism.”

Republicans will only be able to crawl out of the Arizona Joe branding nightmare if they reject Donald Trump and his cult followers. Moreover, Americans must demand for Donald Trump to rise to the stature of the office he holds and stop pandering to right wing extremism.

MaineWriter opinion- Donald Trump has done irreparable harm to the GOP brand. Rather than the decades old acronym of "Grand", it is now gasping for air, branded as the "Gone Old Party".