Palin: Trump, McCain are both heroes

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has defended both Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump as heroes amid an ongoing public feud.

Palin, McCain’s vice presidential pick for his 2008 White House bid, suggested Monday that he and the celebrity real estate developer “resolve the media driven wedge between them.”

{mosads}“I have the good fortune of knowing both John McCain and Donald Trump well,” Palin wrote in a lengthy email to CNN‘s Jake Tapper. “Both men have more in common than the today’s media hype would have you believe. Both blazed trails in their careers and love our great nation.

“Sen. McCain dedicated his life to serving our country, and in my humble opinion the sacrifices made by all ethical service members are heroic – putting it all on the line to defend freedom IS heroic,” Palin wrote to CNN. She reportedly attached a photograph of McCain returning from Vietnam, where he was held as a prisoner of war for nearly six years.

Palin described Trump as “a hero in another arena,” praising his vocal positions on economic issues and illegal immigration, which have seen continued attention since his campaign launch in mid-June.

“Trump is the candidate giving voice to untold millions of fed-up Americans witnessing a purposeful destruction of our economy and the equal opportunity for success that made America exceptional,” Palin wrote. 

“We’re watching career politicians throw away our kids’ future through bankrupting public budgets and ripping open our porous borders which, obvious to all us non-politicians, puts us at great risk,” she added of Trump. 

Trump caught intense flack from Republicans over the weekend for saying that McCain was not a war hero and that he preferred those who didn’t get captured.

Trump, who made a similar suggestion in 2000, called McCain a “dummy” last week after the veteran lawmaker said the reality TV star had “fired up the crazies” with his immigration rhetoric.

Most Republican presidential candidates have condemned controversial remarks from Trump, especially the one regarding McCain, with the exception of Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas). 

On Monday, Palin seemed to take issue with some of the rhetoric previously invoked by McCain, telling CNN, “Everywhere I go, hard-working patriotic Americans — not ‘crazies’ or ‘wacko birds’ — ask me to pass on to Mr. Trump encouragement to keep educating the masses about true ramifications of illegal immigration, and in general the real state of our union.

“We can keep the debate focused on significant issues at hand,” Palin wrote. “I leave politics of personal destruction to those on the Left and lazy media lapdogs who’s only take away from any debate is any salacious slip-up, as if they’ve never wanted to restate something they’ve publicly uttered.

“I’ll fight the exhausting, divisive strategy that’s taken hold under the current crop of politicians who refuse to allow our United States to unite. Both Mr. Trump and Sen. McCain can contribute their gifts and talents to join that fight to work together, because the Left is headed the other direction and under that desired division we will fall,” she added.