Sarah Palin is officially endorsing Donald Trump for president.
News of Palin’s support for Trump percolated online Monday night and was confirmed by the New York Times on Tuesday.
The former Alaska governor whose 2008 vice presidential run turned her into a national star, Palin brings with her a substantial evangelical Christian following that may help Trump beat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), his chief Republican rival in the race for the White House.
Describing Palin’s endorsement as “coveted,” Trump’s campaign said Palin is “a trusted conservative.” The two will appear at a campaign stop in Iowa on Tuesday, just two weeks before the state caucuses in the nation’s first primaries of the 2016 election.
Palin’s endorsement of Trump is of particular significance, because she played a big role in Cruz’s election to the Senate.
“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,” Cruz wrote on Twitter as news of Palin’s presidential endorsement spread.
In fact, Palin has a history of strong endorsements when it comes to conservative races, a fact picked up upon by Cruz himself.
https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew/status/689563583177453569
As BuzzFeed’s Kaczynski rightly points out, it seems only a matter of time before Trump is flaunting that very quote to Cruz supporters in triumph.
Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)
