"I can read his mind without even talking to him. I think he may be reading mine," said the former Maricopa County sheriff, Joe Arpaio. "Is there something that goes through the airwaves? Mental telepathy?"

Such assertions would be a surprise coming from any candidate other than the national provocateur who trademarked the phrase "America's Toughest Sheriff" in January after losing reelection, being convicted of criminal contempt of court and then receiving a presidential pardon from Trump. [...]

The two men have, after all, long traveled a similar road from a distance, sharing the same ­obsession with their own media coverage, parallel claims of persecution from biased judges, an affinity for reality television and a focus on railing against immigrant threats.