Politics

Palin comes to McCain’s defense in Facebook post

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin defended her 2008 running mate Sen. John McCain Monday, after the Arizona Republican Party censured the Senator, saying he was not conservative enough.

In a Facebook post Monday night, Palin touted McCain’s national security bona fides and his role in the investigation into Benghazi. She said that while she did not agree with him on everything, Republicans should all stand on the same side against the Obama administration.

“During this time of dangerous lawlessness in the executive branch, those who agree on stopping the intended transformation of our country had better unite to fight. So at this time, it’s perplexing to see Senator McCain’s good efforts to uncover the Obama agenda being ignored and perhaps even hindered now by those wanting to censure the Arizona Senator,” she wrote. “Despite our differences on some other issues, there is no questioning Senator McCain’s dedication to national security in spite of the White House’s agenda.”

In 2008, McCain chose Palin as his running mate in his presidential bid against then-Sen. Barack Obama. McCain and Palin had several publicized disagreements over the course of the campaign, and in the aftermath, the two have regularly come down on opposite sides of issues, with Palin generally siding with the group of Republican senators including Sen. Ted Cruz whom McCain dubbed the “wacko birds.”

Still, Palin wrote Monday night, “I consider Senator John McCain an American hero and a friend.”

Palin said that McCain played a role in opposing “the problem: President Obama and Harry Reid’s far left agenda.” She particularly praised McCain’s “steadfastness in demanding truth in the White House’s Benghazi cover-up.”

The note enumerates a list of issues on which Palin and McCain disagree — immigration reform, raising the debt ceiling, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But Palin writes that she remains loyal to McCain.

“I know how important the virtue of loyalty is because in politics it’s pretty much nonexistent,” she said. “I stand on that most important virtue and answer those asking today: ‘Yes, I am proud to have been asked to run with him in 2008, and he is my friend.'”

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