Butler County sheriff backs Trump’s ‘leave’ America statement

MORE ON SHERIFF JONES: Tough-talking Butler County sheriff doesn't shy away from the national spotlight

On Wednesday, Sheriff Richard Jones echoed President Trump's sentiments, saying, "If you're not happy, you can leave."
Three of the four congresswomen Trump referenced — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, Ayanna Pressley, D-Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan. — are natural-born Americans. The fourth, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, became a naturalized citizen as a teenager after her parents fled Somalia.

Jones issued a statement backing Trump through press release from the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

“President Trump is not concerned that people are upset by his comment because he feels most people agree with him, as I do,” Jones said. “This is the greatest country in the world and if you are not happy here, then buy your one way ticket and go.”

He also wrote on Twitter he would “chip in” for that one-way ticket out of the country.

Jones isn't concerned with the fact that three of the congresswomen Trump referenced were born in America. In August 2015, the sheriff on MSNBC said he'd like to deport Americans.

“If I could deport Americans, I would,” Jones said in an interview on “All In with Chris Hayes.”

When Trump was campaigning for president, Jones “was the one saying America wasn’t great,” said Butler County Democratic Party Chairman Brian Hester, referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign motto. “Nobody cares what he actually thinks, not even Trump.

“He spent eight years publicly whining about (President Barack) Obama. He didn’t leave the country,” Hester said. “It would be nice if the sheriff used taxpayer resources to actually fight crime for a change instead of using it for partisan campaign purposes because he craves attention.”