Former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin has said that immigrants to the US should "speak American", following a controversy triggered by Donald Trump's criticism of fellow Republican White House hopeful Jeb Bush's use of Spanish.
"It's a benefit of Jeb Bush to be able to be so fluent in Spanish, because we have a large and wonderful Hispanic population that is helping to build America," Ms Palin said on CNN's State of the Union.
“On the other hand, you know, I think we can send a message and say: ‘You want to be in America? A, you better be here legally, or you’re out of here. B, when you’re here, let’s speak American.’ I mean, that’s just, that’s - let’s speak English,” Ms Palin said.
Ms Palin was Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 election.
Ms Palin, who is popular among some US conservatives, said that “a unifying aspect of a nation is the language that is understood by all”.
Most of the illegal immigrants in the US come from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries.
On Thursday, Mr Bush rejected the notion offered by Mr Trump that people should only speak English in the US.
Mr Bush, who is fluent in Spanish and frequently breaks into the language at his events, vowed to keep speaking Spanish whenever he feels like it.
Mr Bush said that Mr Trump’s jibe at him that he “spoke Mexican” while on a visit to the US border was deeply divisive.
Mr Trump, the Republican front-runner whose hardline stance on illegal immigration is a hallmark of his bid for the party’s nomination in the November 2016 election, said: “We’re a nation that speaks English.”
Spanish classes
Ms Palin told CNN she took Spanish classes in high school.
“And I took French in high school. Shouldn’t have taken them both, because I got them all mixed up by the time I was graduating,” the former Alaska governor said.
Ms Palin also said she might like to be appointed energy secretary if Mr Trump wins the presidency.
“I think a lot about the department of energy, because energy is my baby, oil and gas and minerals, those things that god has dumped on this part of the Earth for mankind’s use, instead of relying on unfriendly foreign nations for us to import their resources,” Ms Palin said.
“And if I were head of that,” she said of the department, “I would get rid of it.”
Reuters