This is “whataboutism” run amok.

Then again, as former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio seeks to win retiring Senator Jeff Flake’s Senate seat, he may feel pulling out some of his greatest hits is the best way to get ahead with certain factions of the Republican party.

Arpaio currently trails Rep. Martha McSally in the Arizona GOP primary race. Speaking to a room full of supporters recently, he brought up “the one that got away.” And by “one that got away,” I mean former President Obama’s birth certificate.

In 2016 Arpaio announced that he was concluding a years-long investigation into Obama’s birth certificate, and that he’d found proof that we’d all been tragically hoodwinked.

“This investigation was never about where President Obama was born,” Arpaio said at the time. “We were going to investigate a government possible forged document.”

He claims to have proof, but even if it were revived today, to what end?

I don’t believe the ridiculous calls of some who say questioning where Obama was born is racist. It’s not. I do, however, feel it’s a non-issue, especially now.

That’s not slowing up Arpaio.

In his recent remarks to supporters, he let them know he was still on the case.

“I don’t talk about it anymore, until I become a U.S. senator. … So I’m kind of dropping that right now,” Arpaio told the Western Conservative Conference in Phoenix.

“But I’m going to tell you something,” Arpaio continued, “One hundred percent we proved that’s a fake document. One hundred.”

If he’s so sure, why didn’t he give that information back in 2016? Why not just mention it, now?

One highly possible answer is he’s lying.

An equally likely scenario is that he’s got what he thinks is proof, but somebody has told him it sounds so unhinged, his best bet is to keep it to himself.

That’s not stopping him from milking it.

Back in January, he brought it up while speaking with a local news station.

“I’m going to tell you again that that document is a forgery document,” Arpaio told WABC in January. “And nobody will touch it.”

“I wanted to get it to Congress so they can pass some type of law — regulation — that when somebody runs for president you ought to check their background, so this won’t happen again,” he added. “But I can’t get anybody — anybody — to even look at it.”

What about tax returns? Can we do something about looking at tax returns?

Just keep pushing, Arpaio. That birther thing is going to come back in vogue, any day now.