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Sarah Palin Flames Ted Cruz ‘Basketball Ring’ Gaffe On Facebook

By Zachary Volkert
Published on: 11:47 PST, Apr 27, 2016

Sarah Palin has made her way back into the 2016 election political fray even though she’s not really part of the competition.

After Ted Cruz’s campaigning in Indiana was marked by the words “basketball ring,” Sarah used the opportunity to go after her chosen candidate Donald Trump’s main competition.

In response to Ted’s gaffe, Palin posted pictures of her years on the high school basketball team in Wasilla, Alaska.

Sarah Palin Ted Cruz basketball ring
Sarah Palin reminded voters that she does, in fact, know what a basketball ring/hoop is, unlike Ted Cruz. [Image via Facebook]
As you can see, Sarah is asserting the fact that she does indeed know what to call a basketball hoop — not a ring. It’s unclear exactly what she benefits from sharing this post other than taking a swipe at Cruz, but it does seem to be a sure sign that Palin is willing to get into the thick of it for Trump — even if some aren’t convinced she has any room to talk on the subject.

Sarah Palin Ted Cruz basketball ring
Even Sarah Palin’s Facebook followers seemed to find it a little odd that she would jump on the criticism of Ted Cruz’s ‘basketball ring’ gaffe given her history.

Some may accuse Sarah of beating a dead horse. Palin joined social media in an already huge eruption of anger and amusement over Ted’s initial comments. The trouble all started when Cruz made a point of giving a speech in the Hoosiers Gym located outside of Indianapolis, where the 1986 film of the same name is shot.

No doubt imagining an epic retelling of the movie’s central monologue, Ted gave his best Gene Hackman impression. While Cruz seemed to have the general spirit of the classic sports movie in his heart, he wasn’t quite able to carry it through — flubbing it up so much so that even gaffe-prone Sarah Palin was on him 24 hours later.

“The amazing thing is, that basketball ring in Indiana, it’s the same height as it is New York City and every other place in this country.”

Just how badly was this basketball ring misstep received? If Twitter is any indicator, not well at all. It’s hardly new for a candidate to try to get in on a state’s local customs while campaigning there. It’s one of the few ways they can make an instant connection without actually having to devote more than a few campaign stops to the same place. Everyone from Sarah to Barack Obama knows this well.

Unfortunately for Ted, he took a shot that ended up doing more than just missing the rim/ring. Palin was downright civil compared to some of the responses that bounced right back into his face.

What did you think of Sarah Palin’s response to Ted Cruz’s basketball ring gaffe?

[Image via Andrew Burton/Getty Images]

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