DENVER — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin picked up Friday where she left off in her discursive endorsement of Donald Trump, serving as a warm-up act for the presumptive Republican nominee at the Western Conservative Summit.
Like her original January appearance with Trump, Palin rhymed and rattled off one-liners praising the businessman and assailing his critics both inside the GOP and outside it.
The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee said that she didn’t call fellow party members who aren’t aboard the Trump Train “Never Trump.” She prefers “Republicans Against Trump,” which, she pointed out, forms the acronym “RAT.”
Palin claimed that nobody ever accused Trump of racism until he dared run against the Democrats.
But she saved plenty of barbs for liberal Democrats too. She said that Bernie Sanders made no sense. She called left-wing political rallies “cranky,” “demanding” and “shrill.” She added, “This is what happens when every kid gets a trophy.”
Palin pointed to the ample number of anti-Trump protesters in Denver as evidence the businessman is already creating jobs even before he is elected president.
“You know some of these protesters are being paid,” she quipped. She went after her favorite target, President Obama, whose community organizing past she has been ridiculing for going on eight years since the heady days of campaigning alongside John McCain.
This time, Palin rapped Obama for failing to say that the “I” in “ISIS” is “Islamic.” Trump and many other Republicans have criticized the president for failing to be more explicit in saying recent terrorist attacks were motivated by radical Islam.
As was the case when Palin first endorsed Trump earlier this year, the Twitter reactions from journalists and other outside observers was mostly mockery, the Internet equivalent of a collective eye roll.
Yet inside the convention center, many of Palin’s cracks drew appreciative chuckles from the conservative audience.
Palin has always been a possible ambassador for Trump with skeptical social conservatives, but she has seen her star wane in recent years. Her “hockey mom” speech was considered one of the highlights of the 2008 Republican National Convention.
While Trump has reportedly expressed openness to Palin having a role at this year’s GOP convention in Cleveland later this month, the ex-governor did not hold up well under the spotlight. She has certainly become a less prominent television personality in recent years and has not sought any office since resigning the Alaska governorship despite being talked about as a potential 2012 presidential candidate.
Nevertheless, she can claim some vindication on Trump, as she was a relatively early adopter of the reality TV star among high-profile conservatives — her endorsement came at a point where Ted Cruz was becoming a real threat to Trump — and now he is the presumptive nominee.
Many of the high-profile current and former elected Republicans who endorsed Trump before he had the nomination were arguably past their prime. Others were comparative outsiders within the party, despite their offices.
For example, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie isn’t at the peak of his influence in the party. Maine Gov. Paul LePage and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio are controversial figures. Even Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., arguably Trump’s most consequential early supporter, was passed over for the Budget Committee chairmanship after Republicans retook the Senate in 2014.
Palin certainly fits this description. Yet her talk of Republicans being tired of betrayal from their leaders or wanting to see America win again jibe well with what you hear from grassroots Trump supporters in explaining why he is their man.
For now, at least, Trump has given Palin a second act.
