Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Reality TV Star Endorses Reality TV Star
Sarah Palin, the host of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” and “Amazing America with Sarah Palin,” has endorsed the star of “The Apprentice” and “The Celebrity Apprentice”:
“I’m proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for president,” Ms. Palin said in a statement provided by his campaign.
“I am greatly honored to receive Sarah’s endorsement,” Mr. Trump said in a statement trumpeting Mrs. Palin’s decision. “She is a friend, and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for. I am proud to have her support.”
In Iowa, where Ms. Palin spent years developing support, the endorsement could be especially helpful.
“Over the years Palin has actually cultivated a number of relationships in Iowa,” said Craig Robinson, the former executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa and publisher of the website The Iowa Republican. “There are the Tea Party activists who still think she’s great and a breath of fresh air, but she also did a good job of courting Republican donors in the state,” he added.
Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, added, “Palin’s brand among evangelicals is as gold as the faucets in Trump tower.” It is equally as gold at that calf below Mount Sinai, I presume.
The convergence of Wasilla values and New York values shows just how hard Trump is wooing the religious right. Monday he spoke at Liberty University, where he was given a glowing introduction by Jerry Falwell Jr., who spoke of Trump’s Christlike life:
Falwell lauded Trump’s generosity and worldly success; he called him “a breath of fresh air.” He compared Trump to his father and to Martin Luther King Jr., who also “spoke the truth, no matter how unpopular.” Trump, he said, “cannot be bought—he is not a puppet on a string like many other candidates.” Though Falwell’s comments were, he said, not an endorsement, he repeatedly imagined a Trump presidency as a boon to America. “In my opinion,” he said, “Donald Trump lives a life of loving and helping others, as Jesus taught in the great commandment.”
For his part, Trump boasted about his polls, boasted about his business success, and boasted about his bestsellers, much like Jesus would have done:
TRUMP: I wrote The Art of the Deal, I wrote many best-sellers, like The Art of the Deal, everybody read the — who has read The Art of the Deal in this room? Everybody. I always say — (laughter) — I always say, a deep, deep second to the Bible. The Bible is the best, the Bible. The Bible blows it away. There’s nothing like the Bible.
But The Art of the Deal was about — in fact, there are a few of them right over there. But The Art of the Deal was the best-selling business book, and Obama didn’t read it and Kerry didn’t read it. But we can do things with our country that will be so good. But I’ve always used that word, incompetent, they’re incompetent. Now I don’t care anymore. I don’t care.
We’re going to protect Christianity — and I can say that. I don’t have to be politically correct or…
AUDIENCE: (applause, whistles)
TRUMP: We’re going to protect them, you know? And I — I asked Jerry and I asked some of the folks because I hear this is a major theme right here. But Two Corinthians, right?
A few in the crowd shouted that Paul’s epistle is called Second Corinthians, but forget it, he’s rolling…
TRUMP: Two Corinthians 3:17, that’s the whole ball game. “Where the Spirit of the Lord…” Right? “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” and here there is Liberty College, but … Liberty University. But it is so true … I’m a Protestant; I’m very proud of it. Presbyterian, to be exact. But I’m very proud of it. Very, very proud of it.
Pride is a sin, but forget it, he’s rolling…
TRUMP: And we’ve gotta protect, because bad things are happening. Very bad things are happening. And we don’t … I don’t know what it is. We don’t band together, maybe? Other religions, frankly, they’re banding together and they’re using it…
If I’m president, you’re going to see “Merry Christmas” in department stores, believe me.
St. Donald of Mar-a-Lago was thrilled to get Palin’s endorsement since in 2012 the former Alaska governor, former VP candidate, and former Tea Party darling had endorsed Ted Cruz in his 2012 Senate race.
Over the weekend, a spokesman for Cruz argued that it was in Palin’s interest to endorse the Texas conservative. “I think it [would] be a blow to Sarah Palin, because Sarah Palin has been a champion for the conservative cause, and if she was going to endorse Donald Trump, sadly, she would be endorsing someone who’s held progressive views all their life on the sanctity of life, on marriage, on partial-birth abortion,” he said.
This rather meek advice prompted an ugly response from Bristol Palin that mom dutifully promoted to her millions of followers on Facebook and Twitter:
After hearing what Cruz is now saying about my mom, in a negative knee-jerk reaction, makes me hope my mom does endorse Trump. Cruz’s flip-flop, turning against my mom who’s done nothing but support and help him when others sure didn’t, shows he’s a typical politician. How rude to [sic] that he’s setting up a false narrative about her!
…The audacity to suggest that because she chooses one over the other will somehow “damage” her just shows arrogance.
You’ve also said, “She can pick winners!” I hope you’re right, and that she endorses Donald Trump today for President.
Bristol’s furious response closed with a boldface pitch for readers to buy her mom’s devotional. And the piqued will inherit the earth…
In response to the personal and political slight, Ted Cruz was exceedingly polite:
I love @SarahPalinUSA Without her support, I wouldn’t be in the Senate. Regardless of what she does in 2016, I will always be a big fan.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 19, 2016
Humility and grace. What a concept.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
FYI the amazon link is appended to all of Bristol’s posts on her blog in the post footer.
It’s amusing to watch this man simultaneously pretend to be both a conservative Republican and a Christian.
He’s Elmer Gantry with a Wharton degree.
“Two Corinthians” is Trump’s version of Howard Dean’s naming Job as his favorite book in the New Testament.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad attacks Ted Cruz and turns into a Trump hat model, posing with Trump’s son.
(“You shall crucify mankind upon a cross of corn taxes?” Corn Laws? Didn’t the UK solve this problem around 1846?)
Indeed. Quite bit of heavy condescension around here.
“Snot caucus.” Thank you, Pen. That just went into my rhetorical duffle bag.
I would request a citation (date & time stamp) for any data that counts as evidence that Rush and/or Levin have fallen in love with Trump. Hasn’t happened. What has happened is that you have a couple of very sharp guys pointing out how one candidate has gored every ox and peed on every third rail and emerged stronger. What they are saying is “do not take counsel of your fears. If this yammerhead can do it, so too can you, only with a firm foundation in conservatism.”
I’d hazard that Limbaugh and Levin have been the only two honest brokers in this dog and pony show.
It is surprising to see something like this about social conservatives being written on Ricochet. I am a social conservative, and have known many, many social conservatives. Those whom I have encountered are actually very merciful and forgiving, particularly when dealing with pregnant women. I would certainly never call for anyone’s head because of something her son or daughter did. I am sorry if the social conservatives you have known go around calling for people’s heads because their unmarried daughters are pregnant, but the social conservatives I know are the exact opposite of that.
Spot-on, Judithann. You are absolutely right.
I was dreading this thread. I am a big Palinista, but I don’t get endorsing Trump over Cruz. I am not anti-Trump, I just think he is the least best of the top guys. Even though I am feeling pretty populist this election cycle.
This is interesting given that the constant refrain from the Social Conservative Right has been that we are failing to pass our values on to the next generation – that out of wedlock births are a plague on our society that are the root cause of many of our other issues. One would think that if a politician can’t handle teaching those values within their own family they would be ill equipped as the standard bearer for society as a whole.
Mike LaRoche: Thank you :) I have lived most of my life in a pro-life bubble, and never really understood how some perceive us until Sarah Palin was chosen as VP, and then it came out that her daughter was pregnant. Several liberal commentators seemed to really be convinced that her daughter’s pregnancy would be her demise with social conservatives. It was then I realized that they really do not know us at all. That is partly their fault, but it’s partly our fault too: pro-lifers have always been compassionate and merciful, but maybe we haven’t done a good enough job of communicating that. For a long time, I didn’t realize that we needed to, but we do. We really, really do.
I don’t see why anyone should believe that her support for Trump was not one hundred percent genuine. She’s always endorsed candidates from a wide spectrum of ideological backgrounds, instead looking for what she saw as the right character. Trump is more exuberant than most of those she backs, but he falls clearly into her category.
She brings out his authenticity, he brings out hers. They emphasize in each other the degree to which they’re not bound by ideological sectionalism. They’re two impressive politicians who look better together. I should clarify that Palin was highly successful in office, the substantive role of a politician, whereas I don’t have as high hopes for Trump after victory but as electoral warriors they’re well matched.
Interesting that the OP title duplicates a trope being peddled on twitter by the lefty journo squad.
Social conservatives are concerned about many issues, but for most abortion is probably the number one issue. And nobody but nobody has lived the pro-life message better than Sarah Palin. Also, the philosophy of most social conservatives is informed by Christianity; we recognize that we are all sinners, that we all fall short, that we are all in need of forgiveness. Social conservatism is about love; it isn’t about trying to create a utopian society and punishing anyone who interferes.
Some of the more secular social conservatives aren’t super-opposed to abortion, but for many, being socially conservative means being very pro-life, so much so that the sheer fact that someone didn’t have an abortion inevitably trumps the stigma of unwed motherhood. I actually find such erasure of stigma rather worrisome.
Being an unwed mother is not a good thing – bad for both mother and child – and while I appreciate the difficulties of pregnancy and the resultant temptation to abort, the result of keeping, rather than aborting, an illegitimate child is… still an illegitimate child. (If only adoption were more popular!)
I, too, am amazed that more social conservatives don’t find the tension between preventing abortion and preventing unwed motherhood more distressing. (Or, if it privately distresses them, it’s not something they like to talk about, I’m guessing for fear it might encourage more abortions.)
It is my eternal hope that my get shall never have to experience the warping, confabulating stressors of the public eye, the judgmental public, and the siren seduction of fame.
If they did, do I hope they could withstand the pressure? Yes.
Do I expect them to? It’s a coin toss. Anyone who says it isn’t hasn’t been paying attention.
I presume it’s not ok when the Left does it (e.g. Hillary Clinton’s mysteriously disappearing reapparing Southern accent).
It’s not ok when our side does it either.
And since there are many who doubt Trump’s conservative credentials, it doesn’t help bolster his trustworthiness to lie so baldfacedly in this instance.
Great write up Jon Gabriel.
Those two Corinthians ran into a couple of Tims at Trump University one afternoon. One Tim went for double lattes while the other Tim lamented:
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Tim 4:3-5 ESV)
I should perhaps disclaim that I often refer to “Two Corinthians”, “Two Peter”, or “Two Kings”. Although this means that I can’t get too upset by Trump doing the same thing, I still think his earlier dismissal of the faith (of the Eucharist, of repentance, and such) suggests a lightly worn faith, but Palin has always been strong on the idea that it was acceptable for people to be brought to the fold as well as for them to have started out there.
His shift toward treating Christianity with more respect mirrors a general move to a more respectful tone. The last debate wasn’t just notable for Trump actually being kinda eloquent for a moment (when he talked about New York values), but also for the dog that didn’t bark: Trump hasn’t said anything really dumb for a while. Speaking at Liberty may be kind of pandering, but it’s an earnest and sincere pandering.
Trump’s Presbyterian is ethnic, like EThompson’s, but I see no reason to believe that he isn’t genuinely proud of it, just as I believe Liz is pretty proud of her faith background.
Well, isn’t that special.
Steve Berman at the Resurgent has an interesting take on this.
Here are Erick Erickson’s similar thoughts.
It’s so discouraging that Trump will probably win this thing. And for anyone to claim that Trump is the more pro-Christian candidate is a joke. The whole thing is a farce. Trump is not a big “C” Conservative, he’s not a little “c” conservative, he’s not a Republican.
He’s the most RINO of all RINOs.
Everything that I knew about the conservative movement has turned on its head. This really is Reality TV.
I went through this tension Midge, and have come out squarely on the side of unwed motherhood. It’s the lesser of two evils, and the love for the child is the means to salvation.
Hmm… Admittedly my only experience is with high-risk pregnancy, which perhaps colors my perception, but what I’m learning is that, had I become an unwed mother, that baby would totally be going up for adoption. Barring some sort of miracle, it would simply be cruel to the infant to force him to rely on me as his sole parent.
Well, it depends on extended family support. I agree it’s tough, but it’s not impossible. Sure i agree adoption should be more prevalent. I’ve adopted a child, so I’m grateful for adoption. But anything is better than abortion.
And this speaks to the very heart of this country’s problems. We are an unserious nation with very serious enemies, led by people whose primary aim is to remain in power rather than serve the Constitution.
This statement stuck out for me: “If I’m president, you’re going to see ‘Merry Christmas’ in department stores, believe me.” Since no conservative of any kind should think mandating department store decorations is remotely in the power of the President or federal government, why is that statement just accepted? Because we don’t believe anything Trump says anyway? Then why on earth trust him enough to vote for him?
Americans are learning what Alaskans have known for awhile: Sarah Palin isn’t a principled conservative.
In 2014, Palin endorsed Bill Walker (I) for governor of Alaska. He formed a “unity” ticket with the Democratic candidate to take out incumbent Governor Sean Parnell (R), a fairly conservative guy. I was there at a town hall and witnessed Todd Palin cheering on Byron Mallot (the current Lt. Governor) who was giving a speech about how he’d protect a woman’s right to an abortion.
Conservatives have been had.
I weep for our country. To see these two engage in a paid love fest is sickening. To see the GOP go from nominating Someone of the caliber of Mitt Romney to someone of the caliber of Donald Trump tells you all you need to know about the moral state of our once great nation.
Good grief. I really can’t watch her performance. If that’s the sort of behavior that the McCain campaign had to throttle and manage in 2008, then, for the first time in my life, I just might be proud of the RNC.