Atheist for President? You Betcha, Sarah Palin Says, But Only If This Happens
Former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says there is only one way she would ever vote for an atheist.
If the only other candidate was a radical jihadi that "literally wants to kill" Americans, she would vote for the atheist.
In an interview with CNN's Michael Smerconish after last week's Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, the 51-year-old Palin was asked whether or not she could vote for a "straight arrow" atheist who has a "moral compass" that is not biblically based.
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"Oof, gosh," Palin uttered. "If it all came down to that versus someone who believed in a religion that was hell-bent on destroying those who didn't agree with their religion, who would literally want to kill those, the infidels who would not say, 'Okay, I would go along with you,' then I would."
Palin reiterated that there would have to be a political opponent who is sympathetic toward the heinous actions of barbaric Islamic terrorist groups, such as the murders, executions and kidnappings carried out by the Islamic State terrorist organization.
"Which means, anybody who is in anyway sympathetic to what's going on today with Muslims terrorists, who would crucify children and behead women and stop at nothing to try to destroy us and Israel and our allies, I'd choose an atheist over that!" she asserted.
Smerconish then quipped that she would only vote for an atheist over an "ISIS supporter."
"Okay, gosh, darn it," Palin replied. "You made it too simple."
In the interview, Smerconish also pressed Palin on why her new worship book that was released in November, Sweet Freedom: A Devotional, was so "political."
"Real world stuff, yep," Palin noted. "It's really important that people of faith, atheists, anybody who would be looking for answers today, the best place to go to look for answers that deal with personal problems and political problems that our world, certainly that our nation is facing, it's already spelled out for us — the answers — in the Old and the New Testaments."
Last Monday, Palin sat down with CNN's Jake Tapper and offered her opinions of the 2016 presidential candidates.
Palin, who has often spoken positively about controversial Republican frontrunner billionaire Donald Trump, had positive things to say about Trump and his GOP competitors Sen. Rand Paul, R-K.y., Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
"I'm not going to pick one right now, but what a nice problem to have if it came down to Cruz and Trump," Palin said. "That's a good problem for voters to have, because we know that, as you say, they are both strong and very decisive and someone who would take the initiative. That is what we need today, and both of those candidates would fit that bill."
When asked about Trump's threat to leave the Republican Party and run as a third-party candidate if he is not "treated fairly" by the GOP establishment, Palin blamed the Republican Party for putting Trump in that position.
"I think that if he were forced to do so — because the caveat is, as he has explained, the GOP establishment not treating every candidate fairly and giving every candidate a fair shot ... that he would run independent — I say then for shame on the Republican establishment," Palin argued. "They will have created that situation.
"For the Republican establishment to try and put fear in the public's mind and fear in Republican voters by telling that 'If we had a third-party candidate, then the Democrat would slip in there [and win],' that is the GOP establishment's fault if they were to continue treating any candidate unfairly. He has got every right to do that. The Republican Party better not blow it and allow everybody to have that fair shot."
