Former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin delivered a boisterous and at times bewildering speech as she publicly endorsed the party's presidential frontrunner Donald Trump at a rally in Iowa on Tuesday.
The support of the former Alaska governor, who is popular among conservatives, will potentially boost the businessman’s chances of winning the Iowa caucuses on February 1st, the first nominating ballot in the race to be the Republican nominee in the November election.
"Heads are spinning, media heads are spinning," Ms Palin said as she took the stage next to Trump at Iowa State University, referring to the press at the back of the room. "This is going to be so much fun."
Ms Palin's ringing endorsement of a candidate who is leading in the national polls is a setback for fellow conservative firebrand Ted Cruz, the Texas senator who is tied in the polls in Iowa with Mr Trump.
“When I heard she was going to endorse me, I was so honoured, you have no idea. I was so honoured,” Mr Trump told his supporters.
In a rambling speech, delivered in her folksy style and peppered with a “you betcha!” and a “doggone!” Ms Palin tapped the same angry rhetoric that Mr Trump has used to fuel his insurgent campaign.
“He is perfectly positioned to let you make America great again. Are you ready for that, Iowa? No more pussy footing around!” she said, to cheers from the conservative crowd in the town of Ames.
She asked the crowd whether they are ready for “a commander-in-chief who will let our warriors do their job and go kick ISIS ass.” They responded with shouts of “Yeah” and cheers.
Ms Palin lashed the Obama administration’s policy in the Middle East, saying the US should “quit footing the bill” for oil-rich nations.
“We’re paying for some of their squirmishes [sic] that have been going on for centuries, where they’re fighting each other and yelling ‘Allah Akbar’ calling jihad on each other’s forever and ever. Like I’ve said before, let them duke it out and let Allah sort it out,” she said.
Explaining the candidate’s appeal, she said that Mr Trump was “going rogue left and right, man - that’s why he’s doing so well.”
She praised the businessman for raising issues during his campaign that some of the party’s establishment wanted to “duck and hide” from.
“They didn’t want to talk about these issues until he brought them up. In fact, they’ve been wearing this political correctness kind of like a suicide vest,” she said.
Referring to the frustration of conservatives, Ms Palin berated the Republican establishment for not doing more for that base of the party.
“‘Well, you guys are sounding kind of angry,’ is what we’re hearing from the establishment,” she said.
“Doggone right we’re angry! Justifiably so! Yes! You know, they stomp on our neck and then they tell us, ‘Just chill, okay just relax.’ Well, look, we are mad, and we’ve been had.”
Ms Palin’s standing among conservatives has made her a lucrative fundraiser and big draw for the party’s candidates running in elections.
She was a relative unknown when she was chosen by 2008 Republican nominee, Senator John McCain, to be his running mate in the presidential election which they ultimately lost to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Since stepping down as Alaska governor in 2009, the self-described “mama grizzly bear” has maintained a prominent profile through book deals, talk-show appearances and, like Mr Trump, a reality TV show.
One candidate she backed strongly was Mr Cruz in his surprise election to the US Senate representing Texas in 2012.
“I love @SarahPalinUSA,” Mr Cruz tweeted ahead of her announcement endorsing his rival in the presidential race.
“Without her support I wouldn’t be in the Senate. Regardless of what she does in 2016, I will always be a big fan.”
