Chelsea Clinton Causes Confusion with Tweet About Spending Year in Arpaio’s Tent Jail

PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 17: Inmates walk as they are moved after being ordered by Maricopa Cou
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Katherine Rodriguez

Chelsea Clinton tweeted an article penned by someone who spent a year in former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Maricopa County “tent jail” Saturday but made it seem like she spent time there herself.

When she tweeted the Washington Post op-ed, however, she posted the story’s headline without quotes, making it sound like she spent a year in Arpaio’s jail.

“The year I spent in Joe Arpaio’s tent jail was hell. He should never walk free,” Clinton tweeted, linking to the Post essay.

The essay, written by Francisco Chairez, describes Chairez’s experience as an inmate serving time for a DUI conviction in Arpaio’s jail.

“[In 2014], I got into a bad relationship and I drove while drunk. I was arrested, and it took the county an entire year to prosecute me. I thought it was the worst year of my life, until I was convicted and sent to one of Arpaio’s jails,” Chairez wrote.

“How ironic it is, that the immigrant who committed a minor criminal act has to live with a conviction on his record for the rest of his life, while a criminal like Arpaio gets to walk away unscathed for his crimes, which are greater in scale and severity,” he added.

Chairez wrote the essay following Trump’s decision to pardon Arpaio for a criminal contempt conviction for going against a federal judge’s order not to detain people suspected of being illegal aliens.

Despite Clinton’s intent to share the article, some social media users decided to have a little fun with Clinton’s tweet.

https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/901516073928884225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fnews%2F2017%2F08%2F27%2Fchelsea-clinton-tweets-she-spent-a-year-in-joe-arpaios-tent-jail-the-reaction-is-priceless%2F

“What were you in for?” one person tweeted, starting a chain of tweets poking fun of Clinton’s gaffe.

Someone eventually pointed out Clinton’s failure to attribute the quote to its source, causing the former First Daughter to acknowledge her mistake.

“Quotations are helpful, unless you were wanting to misrepresent things,” one user pointed out, to which Clinton replied: “I shared directly from @washingtonpost site. Not sure why it being an op-ed wasn’t clear. Thank you for pointing out.”

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