I don’t read books, Sarah Palin admits in Alaska comeback bid

The former vice-presidential nominee is one of four candidates standing for Alaska’s sole House of Representatives seat.

Sarah Palin has been endorsed by Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

Sarah Palin has made her pitch for a political comeback 14 years after she stood for the US vice-presidency, telling voters in Alaska that she wants to expand oil exploration and admitting that she does not read books.

Ms Palin, 58, is standing to be the state’s sole member of the House of Representatives.

In a televised debate between the former Alaska governor and the three other candidates, she said that tackling inflation, which is at its highest in the US for 40 years, was her priority. “We are in recession and it’s a shame that the president and his party refuse to acknowledge that we are suffering,” the Republican said.

“We need to drill, baby, drill. Energy costs are the driver of inflation … if we have more supply of oil, our own clean, domestic USA oil, coming from Alaska ideally, (prices will come down).”

Palin, who was John McCain’s running-mate in the 2008 presidential election, is not certain to win the seat.

A poll last week by Alaska Survey Research had the Democrat Mary Peltola comfortably ahead of another Republican, Nick Begich, with Ms Palin trailing in third place. Ms Peltola tops most polls.

Alaskans select a representative from four candidates using an alternative vote system.

Both Republicans have demanded that the other withdraw. The other candidate, Chris Bye, is from the Libertarian party.

Ms Peltola, who also said she would push for more fossil fuel exploitation, won a special election in August after the death of the incumbent Republican, Don Young, at the age of 88.

Ms Palin has won the backing of Donald Trump, and expressed her support for the former president during the debate on Wednesday night.

Asked how she would deal with a repeat of the coronavirus pandemic, Ms Palin said: “The whole Covid crisis, it was more about control than it was actually about a virus, and those of us who spoke up and said things like, ‘I’m not going to get that experimental immunisation’, we were mocked and ostracised. Well, we were right.”

Asked whether the committee investigating the January 6 riots at the Capitol was correct to subpoena Mr Trump, Ms Palin said he was the victim of a witch-hunt.

“He has nothing to hide, I don’t believe he committed a crime,” she said. “I think that the media and those that are obstructionists to so much of what Trump represents, I believe that they just want to hold on to this thing and keep stirring it up.”

Ms Palin and Ms Peltola said that despite coming from different political backgrounds, they were friends and had worked together in the past.

Sarah Palin found time to write a book.

The debate included questions tweeted by members of the public. One asked what the candidates read in their leisure time. Mr Bye, of the Libertarian Party, said he read “a lot of fishing books, and a lot of fishing magazines, and a whole host of sci-fi”.

Asked the same question, Ms Palin said: “I run, I exercise, that’s my sanity. Sweat. I don’t do a whole lot of just sitting around reading. My reading is for politics, to help serve others.”

The election is on November 8.

The Times