AMES, Iowa (AP) – Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump received a key endorsement Tuesday from conservative heavyweight Sarah Palin, giving the billionaire businessman a potential boost with some voters less than two weeks before voting begins with the Iowa caucuses.
“I am greatly honored to receive Sarah’s endorsement,” Trump said in a statement announcing the support of the former Alaska governor and former running mate of Sen. John McCain in his 2008 bid for the White House. “She is a friend, and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for. I am proud to have her support.”
Palin is scheduled to appear with Trump at a rally at an agricultural center at the Iowa State University later Tuesday and will also be joining Trump at two events Wednesday, including a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The endorsement comes less than two weeks ahead of the critical lead-off Iowa caucus, where Trump is locked in a dead heat with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
In the statement announcing the endorsement, Trump’s campaign described Palin as a conservative who “helped launch the careers of several key future leaders of the Republican Party and conservative movement.” The statement also quoted Cruz as once saying he “would not be in the United States Senate were it not for Gov. Sarah Palin. … She can pick winners.”