GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa — Sarah Palin is back in the news but Carly Fiorina isn’t interested in talking about her.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Palin endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, Fiorina sidestepped questions about the former Alaska governor’s sudden involvement in the 2016 race.
“Well, we’ll see if it makes any difference,” Fiorina said when asked about the endorsement, before saying she has “no idea” if it ultimately will.
When asked if she likes the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential nominee, Fiorina simply responded “not going there.”
While Fiorina was evasive in her answers, the two have some history since Palin joined the ticket with John McCain in 2008, for whom Fiorina served as an adviser and campaign surrogate.
In her 2015 book Rising To The Challenge, Fiorina touched on her role in the 2008 campaign, writing that McCain asked her to advise Palin on economic issues with the country in the midst of subprime mortgage crisis. However, that never took place after “numerous requests” from Fiorina to Palin.
“I never did get the chance to fulfill Senator McCain’s request to brief her on the economic challenges facing the country, although I made numerous requests to meet with her during the campaign,” Fiorina wrote.
The former Hewlett-Packard CEO also said in a September 2008 radio interview that Palin didn’t have the experience to run a company like HP. Trying to play catch-up, she added that McCain and then-Sen. Barack Obama did not have the experience either before having subsequent interviews cancelled.
Notably, Palin also endorsed Fiorina’s 2010 bid for Senate in California during the primary. Fiorina won the nomination but ultimately lost the general election to longtime Sen. Barbara Boxer.
With only 12 days until voting kicks off in Iowa, Fiorina continues to lag back in the pack, with her being relegated to the undercard debate stage last week. According to the latest RealClearPolitics averages, she sits 10th in Iowa, pulling only 1.6 percent backing. In New Hampshire, Fiorina grabs nearly 4 percent backing, putting her in eighth place. Fiorina is in eighth place in the Washington Examiner‘s power rankings.
