Like many of you, I spent the better part of last week being excited about the announcement of Sen. Kamala Harris being Joe Biden’s running mate. With all that excitement in mind, I couldn’t help thinking about a thread that my colleague David Neiwert posted a few months back about perhaps the most infamous vice presidential candidate of all time: Sarah Palin.
This thread went viral, but I felt that it needed to have a second life on video so people could feel the full effect of Gov. Palin in all her belligerent splendor, diving deeply into how she is our proto-Trump.
Trump continues to be not the cause but the latest symptom of the disease that the GOP has inflicted on this country. Below, we look back on Sarah Palin's rhetoric, which stoked a culture war in American politics.
The key here is that after the election, Palin didn't tone down the extremism, but rather stepped it up. She was one of the first figures from the GOP establishment to embrace the "Birther" conspiracy theories.
Of course, we also know who not only followed suit, but launched his entire political career on the back of this fraudulent and racist conspiracy theory.
Palin also played a crucial role in the increasing radicalization of the GOP, mainly through her connections to the Tea Party, which quickly became a primary conduit for "Patriot"-style and Christian nationalist extremism.
Palin also did a lot to pave the way for the wild word salad rhetorical style that has been Trump's hallmark.
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Let me know in the comments: Do you remember Sarah Palin’s bid for the vice presidency? What moment sticks out in your mind?