Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s name trended on social media Thursday due to headlines falsely claiming that she said Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) “prostituted” herself.
Palin, who was the first woman named to a Republican presidential ticket when John McCain chose her as his running mate in 2008, spoke with Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson Wednesday night about the difference in media coverage that her vice presidential nomination received compared to the positive coverage of Harris’.
“Looking back, is there anything you could have done to get the kind of coverage that Kamala Harris is getting now?” Carlson asked Palin. “Like you care about equality deep within your soul, that you’re a rockstar, a celebrity, you’re the Dalai Lama reincarnated. Could you have done anything to get that kind of coverage?”
“I would not have prostituted myself in terms of changing any of my positions in order to garner better press,” Palin said. “For instance, I’m all about all of our freedoms, including the Second Amendment, and I would not, for instance, say, ‘yeah, mandatory gun confiscation’ — which is what the Democrats are rooting for and polling for — I would never have gone there in order to get that good coverage.”
“I would have gotten a lot better coverage had I compromised my convictions, had I decided that I was just going to go with the flow in order to get that uni-party liberal coverage that would have been so much better,” Palin added.
While Fox News’ headline for the interview accurately quoted Palin’s comments (“Sarah Palin on media double standard: ‘I wouldn’t have prostituted myself … to garner better press’”), other sites ran headlines that falsely claimed that Palin was accusing Harris of having “prostituted” herself.
The Daily Beast’s headline, for example, stated: “Sarah Palin to Tucker Carlson: I Never Would Have ‘Prostituted’ Myself Like Kamala Harris.”
The headline at Political Flare stated: “Sarah Palin Claims Kamala Harris ‘Prostituted’ Herself For The VP Nominee Position.”
The false headlines caused Palin’s name to trend on Twitter Thursday and accumulated angry replies accusing her of making a sexist attack against Harris, which in turn inspired a Raw Story article with the headline: “‘Very Christian’ Sarah Palin slammed for sexist jab at Kamala Harris.”
“My comment was obviously referring to the fact that conservatives are too often tempted to change their positions and throw fellow Republicans under the bus in order to get better media coverage. I refuse to prostitute my principles in order to garner better press,” Palin said in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News.
She added, “This is why we appreciate outlets like Breitbart allowing the record to be set straight because those in media with integrity understand the sanctity of a free press.”
Palin also took to her Instagram account to slam the “Lying scum media” for their misleading headlines, one of which she highlighted in a side-by-side photo next to the accurate Fox News headline:
Lying scum media… bless your hearts… you MADE MY POINT with your lies about my interview with Tucker Carlson last night. I NEVER said anyone “prostituted” herself. You IDIOTS, I said clearly I would never prostitute MYSELF in order to garner better (fairer, honest, accurate) press coverage. YOU KNOW WHAT I SAID. Every one of you continuing to lie about me and others are lower than the slippery mucus on a snake’s belly. I RARELY ever – EVER – call y’all out because it’s too much to keep up with and constantly correct your lies, but here’s one that’s just a wee bit too obvious. Ya’ losers.
The media treatment of Palin during the 2008 campaign has been widely condemned as overtly sexist and biased. From nearly the moment Palin was named as McCain’s running mate, major media outlets ran with unsubstantiated stories about her record in Alaska, repeatedly and flagrantly misquoted her, accused her of banning books that were not even published at the time of the alleged banning, speculated about whether a working mother could be vice president, attacked her for her wardrobe, and, most damning of all, trafficked in a sexist conspiracy theory alleging that Palin’s then-infant son was actually the child of her then-17-year-old daughter.
In his 2009 book, The Persecution of Sarah Palin, Matthew Continetti rattled off a sampling of the sexist language used by various media and entertainment figures to attack Palin:
She has been called a ‘freak show,’ a ‘joke,’ an ‘extreme liability,’ a ‘turncoat b*tch,’ an ‘insult,’ a ‘fire-breather,’ ‘xenophobic,’ a ‘sitcom of a vice-presidential choice,’ a ‘disaster movie,’ a ‘shallow’ person, ‘chirpy,’ a ‘provincial,’ a ‘disgrace to women’ who was ‘as fake as they come,’ a ‘nauseating,’ ‘cocky wacko,’ a ‘jack in the box,’ ‘Napoleon in bunny boots,’ ‘extreme,’ ‘radical,’ a ‘vessel,’ a ‘farce,’ ‘Bush in drag,’ ‘not very bright,’ ‘utterly unqualified,’ a ‘bimbo,’ ‘Danielle Quayle,’ the ‘new spokesperson for bellicosity and confrontation,’ a ‘fatal cancer,’ ‘like a really bad Disney movie,’ ‘laughable,’ an ‘odd combination of Chauncey Gardiner from Being There and Marge from Fargo,’ ‘dangerous,’ a ‘bully,’ the ‘biggest demagogue in America,’ the ‘Paleolithic Princess of Parsimonious Patriotism,’ the ‘anti-Wonder Woman,’ ‘judgmental’… ‘dictatorial’ with a ‘superior religious self-righteousness,’ a ‘racist’ who was ‘absurd,’ ‘scary,’ and a ‘token,’ a ‘bantamweight cheerleader,’ an ‘airhead,’ an ‘idiot,’ a ‘librarian in a porn film,’ a ‘Jesus freak,’ a ‘man with a vagina’… a ‘Drama Queen,’ a ‘Republican blow-up doll’ who ‘ideologically’ is ‘their hardcore pornographic centerfold spread,’ an ‘opportunistic anti-female,’ a ‘true Stepford candidate, a cyborg,’ a ‘quitter,’ and—this list is by no means exhaustive—a ‘bonbon.’
The latest media falsehood against Palin—suggesting that she used sexist language against Harris—comes just days after Palin issued a gracious statement congratulating Harris on her nomination.
As the Federalists’ John Daniel Davidson noted, “Given what she went through in ’08, Palin’s note [to Harris] is remarkable for how friendly, upbeat, and understated it is. That she, of all people, would strike such a tone on this subject is a testament to her strong character and goodwill, and yet another indictment of the ignoble media establishment that persecuted her.”
Palin is also correct in noting that her stance on the Second Amendment was a sticking point for media attacks on her during the 2008 campaign and beyond.
Rebecca Mansour is a Senior Editor-at-Large for Breitbart News. Follow her on Twitter at @RAMansour.
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