Sarah Palin’s Trump Speech Goes Awry, Gets Lackluster Response From Wisconsin Republicans [Video]
The Republican former candidate for vice president, Sarah Palin, appeared in Wisconsin on Friday in order to stump for Donald Trump, and it was obvious her speech didn’t go as planned. As said in a report from the Chicago Tribune, Palin was met with tepid applause and stone-faced silence from the Republican crowd that was gathered in Milwaukee.
Palin, who has been active in the campaign to achieve Donald Trump’s Republican presidential nomination in the November elections, received numerous looks of boredom and contempt on the faces of Wisconsin Republicans’ during her pro-Trump speech. The former Alaska Governor attended the event and spoke about what’s troubling the GOP and gave a reason why more people need to get onboard with Trump. In her speech, Palin praised Trump by saying that only Trump understands that “common sense is an endangered species in Washington,” the Village Sun Times wrote.
Palin opened with a call for unity among the candidates in supporting former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jerry Kramer’s induction into the NFL Hall of Fame, a joke that mostly fell flat. According to the Chicago Tribune’s report, Palin’s free-flowing, seemingly stream-of-consciousness speech from prepared notes criticized crony capitalists on Wall Street for profiting from open borders, free trade, and military intervention while regular people suffer.
Sarah Palin has been very active since January in the Trump campaign and she has attended several events in behalf of the controversial businessman. During her recent speech, Palin echoed the anti-immigrant rhetoric from Donald Trump, and said that Mexicans who manage to cross the border into the United States are welcomed with a gift basket of teddy bears and soccer balls.
“What the heck are you thinking, candidates? What the heck are you thinking when you’re actually asking for more immigrants — even illegal immigrants, welcoming them in,” Palin said to the crowd. “Even inducing and seducing them with gift baskets. Come on over the border and here’s a gift basket of teddy bears and soccer balls. What are you thinking?
During the event and before an audience in silence, Palin said that opponents of Trump “didn’t want to talk about” illegal immigration, but Trump “made them.”
It was clear that Palin’s attempt to stump for Trump was a failure, and Twitter reacted accordingly. BuzzFeed reporter Rosie Gray wrote on Twitter that the “whole thing was awkward.”
The Washington Post‘s Philip Rucker reported that Palin got some laughs when she said, “Trump talks rationally.”
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
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
Although the crowd did give her a standing ovation when she was finished with her speech, it appeared to be more along the lines of a polite “this is what we do” standing ovation, Death and Taxes noted. The only time people clapped during the actual speech was when Palin brought up Hillary Clinton and Benghazi. Every reaction shot of the crowd seemed to show a combination of disinterest and confusion.
Meanwhile, the crowd was largely supportive of Trump’s rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who recently got the endorsement of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and leads the businessman in state polls ahead of Tuesday’s primary, Huffington Post reports.
[Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images News]
