Did y’all know that we haven’t written about Sarah Palin in over two years? She was in the news a lot in 2022, when she tried and failed to sue the New York Times for libel, and kept wandering around New York unmasked while she was Covid-positive. Then she ran in a special congressional election in Alaska and lost… to a Democrat. Good times. It felt like after fourteen grim years in the public eye, Palin had tucked her tail between her legs and finally accepted that she was and is a huge political joke. But the rise, fall and rise again of Donald Trump has given Sarah Palin delusions of glamour. Apparently, she’s really mad that Trump hasn’t nominated her for a Cabinet position.
As Donald Trump quickly fills out his cabinet and top roles in his administration, Sarah Palin asks: Why not me? The former vice presidential candidate and governor of Alaska took to social media to share her frustration at not being selected for any role in the Trump administration.
On Sunday, Palin posted “And… another nominee announced!” on her Instagram story. She followed that up with a screenshot of a message a follower had sent her, which said, “What about you?” Palin thanked the fan in her post. She then posted a cryptic selfie with the caption: “Funny how politics work.”
Palin capped it off by posting a rant the same follower tagged her in.
“Currently, President elect Trump has named his secretaries for the VA, Energy, Interior and EPA administrator. Any one of these positions I hoped Sarah Palin would get,” the follower wrote, which Palin posted to Instagram and X. “Palin was Trump before Trump. I have been saying this for years. Sarah Palin is the Mother of MAGA. Back then [16 years ago], she was the face of the tea party, what would then become the MAGA movement. It is so shocking to me how in 2017, and now it looks like in 2025, she will not get a seat at the table that she helped set.”
Palin’s name has been notably absent from all short-lists for Trump cabinet picks. In 2016, Trump signaled that he was considering tapping Palin as interior secretary, but that never materialized. Now, Palin’s name isn’t in the conversation at all.
“Big tent, big party, but know your history so America can repeat the good parts,” Palin captioned the follower’s rant.
Completely excluding the fact that Sarah Palin is an idiot and a bum, I will acknowledge in a very narrow way that she actually has a point: Palin was the proto-Trump, the elevation of the worst of white grievance, white entitlement and white fragility. Trump largely used the Palin playbook, but of course he added even more hate, including profound sexism and violent misogyny which has seeped into all things MAGA. I even partly believe that Palin is a no-go in Trump’s administration simply because she’s a woman.
Big tent, big party, but know your history so America can repeat the good parts: https://t.co/cNzS5AbTLp pic.twitter.com/yx28cfKquD
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) November 17, 2024
Photos courtesy of Instar and Cover Images.