Sarah Palin joined Donald Trump on the campaign trail on Tuesday in Iowa after offering him her endorsement earlier in the day, calling him a ‘rogue’ candidate who is ‘beholden to no one but we the people’.
She said: “I’m proud to endorse Donald J Trump for president.”
Trump is narrowly ahead in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate ahead of rival Ted Cruz.
Palin, a former Alaska governor who was Republican Senator John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election, described Trump as an anti-establishment candidate who would “kick Islamic State’s ass,” referring to the Islamic State militant group.
Palin said there was nothing wrong with Trump being a multibillionaire and that it did not make him an elitist, citing all the time he had spent with construction workers as a real-estate developer.
As Trump stood alongside, Palin said: “The status quo has got to go,” adding that the political establishment had been “wearing political correctness kind of like a suicide vest”.
In a statement before the event, Trump said he was “greatly honoured” by the endorsement. “She is a friend, and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for.”
Palin's approval comes at a pivotal moment as the countdown begins to the presidential primary, on February 1.
She told crowds at the rally in Ames, Iowa: “He's the master of the art of the deal.
