Donald Trump has won the highest profile endorsement of his campaign to become the Republican presidential nominee: the backing of the party's 2008 vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
The former Alaska governor announced her support for the Republican contender ahead of her appearance at a rally in Iowa with the insurgent candidate, whose lead in the national polls has stunned America’s political establishment with his brash, vitriolic campaign.
"I'm proud to endorse Donald J Trump for president," Ms Palin said in a statement released by his campaign.
A popular figure among conservatives and evangelicals, the former governor will give the businessman a boost in the Iowa caucuses on February 1st, the inaugural nominating contest of the election cycle.
Verbal attacks
She will help the businessman in particular amongst women with whom Mr Trump has polled poorly as a result of his verbal attacks.
The tycoon is locked in a tight race in Iowa with Ted Cruz, the outspoken conservative senator from Texas, though he enjoys a strong lead in New Hampshire, the second state to vote, and elsewhere.
“I am greatly honoured to receive Sarah’s endorsement,” said Mr Trump in his statement. “She is a friend, and a high-quality person whom I have respect for.”
Ms Palin was plucked from the political wilderness by Republican senator John McCain when he chose her as his running mate in the 2008 presidential election after just two years as governor of Alaska.
By the end of that campaign, she had grown in stature to become one of the Republican Party’s most recognisable faces, notwithstanding several gaffes on foreign policy and her capacity for verbal stumbles.
Since leaving office in 2009, the self-described “hockey mom” has maintained her national profile with book deals and TV appearances.
