Donald Trump Supporter Sarah Palin Says Illegal Immigrants At Mexican Border Receive ‘Gift Baskets With Soccer Balls’
Presidential hopeful Donald Trump brought Sarah Palin, one of his most prominent high-profile supporters to the GOP battleground state of Wisconsin on Friday, hoping for a boost heading into next week’s primary election. As reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, the Trump campaign booked an appearance for Palin at a Milwaukee County Republican Party event on Friday evening as well as two town hall events with Donald Trump himself on Saturday.
Wall Street Journal reporter Reid Epstein covered Sarah Palin’s appearance at the aforementioned Milwaukee event via Twitter, posting some of the former Alaska governor’s more memorable quotes from the address. According to Epstein, Palin returned to the matter of illegal immigration in her speech, a cornerstone of Donald Trump’s campaign from inception. Epstein noted that Palin commented that Mexican nationals who enter the United States are greeted with “gift baskets with soccer balls.” The reporter also noted that Palin took some shots at Trump’s main rival, Ted Cruz, and she also drew laughter from the crowd when she said that “only Trump talks rationally about military threats.”
In Milwaukee, Sarah Palin says illegal immigrants who come across Mexican border get “gift baskets with soccer balls.”
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) April 2, 2016
Palin hits Cruz for being soft on trade. “You have to ask yourself, who is this? It’s not someone who understands Ronald Reagan.”
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) April 2, 2016
Outright laughs from Milwaukee GOP crowd when Sarah Palin says “Only Trump talks rationally about military threats.”
— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) April 2, 2016
Epstein’s coverage was cited by the Breaking News editorial staff, who also noted that Philip Rucker, national political correspondent for the Washington Post, was also on hand during Sarah Palin’s speech. Rucker and others said that she received a tepid response from the GOP faithful, noting that many in the audience appeared to display indifference and even outright annoyance while she was at the podium.
How do you know Palin has faded? 8 mins into her speech at GOP dinner and no applause yet. Some eye rolls and phone checking tho.
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 2, 2016
Update: 14 mins in, still no applause. But some laughter when Palin says “Trump talks rationally” https://t.co/rlXofImINF
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 2, 2016
Palin says vetting foreigners is “the essence of (Trump’s) long-term strategy to contain evil…That and respecting our red, white & blue.”
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) April 2, 2016
While it is not entirely surprising that Sarah Palin would address the fundamentals of Donald Trump’s emerging domestic and foreign policy platforms, her decision to take a swipe or two at Texas Senator Ted Cruz is something of a new development in the campaign. As fellow travelers with close ties to the Tea Party movement, Cruz and Palin enjoyed an amicable relationship up to the point that Sarah Palin publicly endorsed Donald Trump in January. Indeed, in the hours prior to the announcement itself, Cruz himself appeared to believe he still had a chance at garnering a nod from the Republican superstar.
“Regardless of what Sarah decides to do in 2016, I will always remain a big, big fan,” Ted Cruz said of Palin according to a report by CNN.
Things apparently soured between Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin a short time later, when both Palin and her daughter, Bristol, chided the Republican contender via social media.
Despite Sarah Palin’s star power, her candidate appears to be faltering both with respect to the Wisconsin primary as well as national polls. Aggregate polling data from Real Clear Politics shows Ted Cruz leading Donald Trump at present. As previously noted by Inquisitr, the Wisconsin primary will reportedly mark the start of an aggressive “Anybody But Trump” campaign by establishment Republicans to prevent Donald Trump from landing the GOP nomination at the party’s convention this summer.
[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
