Sarah Palin: I Hope Clay Aiken Is Runner-Up in Election, Too

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she hoped that American Idol runner-up and North Carolina congressional candidate Clay Aiken, a Democrat, would come in second place again if he faces incumbent Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) in this fall’s general election in the state’s second congressional district. 

In an interview on Inside Edition that aired on Tuesday evening, host Jim Moret asked Palin about her thoughts on the pop star’s candidacy. 

Palin asked, “He’s running as a ‘D'”?

When Moret said that Aiken was, Palin then said, “Well, then I hope he’s runner-up in the election, too.”

“Bless his heart, you know, he seems like he’s got a lot of common sense, certainly has a lot of talent, and he’s got that confidence that’s needed in the political arena,” Palin continued. “But I think we need some more business-minded, job-oriented Republicans in Congress so we can turn some things around. We tried it with the ‘Ds’ the last couple of years. Let’s go with some conservatives.”

If Aiken wins the Democratic primary against two others, he will face Ellmers, whose campaign has already blasted Aiken as a “performer whose political views more closely resemble those of San Francisco than Sanford.”