Sarah Palin: ‘I’ve got nothing to lose’ with the press

NEWS AND OPINION:

Run, Sarah, run?

Indeed, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has declared her candidacy for Congress — and she is fully prepared for a hostile reception. An interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters reveals all.

What will happen if she wins and arrives at the U.S. Capitol?

“When you get there, assuming you get there, you understand that the media jackals are going to descend on you. And you are going to be walking down the halls of Congress to the cafeteria to go get a Pepsi, and you’re just going to be swarmed by these reporters sticking these little microphones and recording devices in your face. Are you prepared for that onslaught? Because it’s going to be pretty vicious,” Mr. Watters predicted in his conversation with the onetime Republican vice presidential hopeful.

“You know, I would never be so cocky as to say ‘bring it on.’ But yes, I anticipate that when I walk down that hall to get my Diet Dr. Pepper, sure, the jackals are going to be there doing their jackaling,” Ms. Palin replied.

Jackaling? The candidate may have invented a new word to describe predatory press behavior. But let’s move along.

“I just think I’ve got nothing to lose. What more can they do? What more can they say?  We’ll see what’s to come,” Ms. Palin advised.

“I’m very, very confident in knowing who and what I’m dealing with. And their criticism — the press’s criticism — if you don’t live by man’s praise, you’re not going to die by man’s criticism. So, I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m in it for the right reasons. It’s about a public servant’s heart, and being willing to serve the people. It’s pretty simple,” Ms. Palin said.

She also says she would be eager to debate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat.

“I will be very polite and I would beg her to debate me,” Ms. Palin said, noting that education, capitalism, business tactics, national security and energy independence would all be topics of interest.

“So, I would debate with her. Oh, gosh — I want to debate her,” she said.

THE MAYORS SPEAK OUT

The Republican National Committee is now tracking how many high-profile Democrats are publicly fretting over U.S. border issues and ineffective policy. In particular, the organization has cited Jeh Johnson, who was Homeland Security director during the Obama administration.

“Most Americans want a secure border. We have to enforce border security,” Mr. Johnson told Fox News, adding that the current situation is “not sustainable.”

“This is a warning that border state mayors — including Democrats — have been shouting from the rooftops for a year,” the RNC said in a response to Mr. Johnson’s comments.

In an additional analysis, the Republican organization also cited six mayors who are on the front lines of the border wars.

The mayors hail from Gila Bend, Arizona, and five Texas cities — Carrizo Springs, Uvalde, Laredo, Del Rio and McAllen. Two of the mayors are Democrats, by the way — including Del Rio Mayor Bruno Lozano, who declared that the border is “wide open for unlawful entry” despite reassurance from the Biden administration that the situation was under control.

“It’s a Biden border crisis,” Mr. Lozano told Fox News.

“The Border Patrol is overwhelmed. They’re bussing migrants to our city,” said Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, another Democrat.

“We can’t handle it here,” he told the network in a separate interview.

Their comments do not appear to resonate much with the White House, in the meantime.

“President Biden has ignored these mayors. In fact, he’s made the problem even worse. Biden doesn’t care about Americans struggling under his border crisis. He won’t even visit the border,” said Tommy Pigott, the RNC’s rapid response director.

MEANWHILE IN MEDICAL SCHOOL

The College Fix — a student-written news organization that tracks cultural developments on U.S. campuses — has medical news.

Senior reporter Christian Schneider reports that the University of North Carolina School of Medicine will retain a certain requirement in its curriculum.

That requirement Mr. Schneider wrote on Monday, is a rule that faculty must “explain the difference between sex and gender and how specific organs and cells do not belong to specific genders.”

This appears to be an evolving concept; stay tuned.

FOXIFIED

Fox News drew an average primetime audience of 2.5 million during the week of March 28 through April 3, according to Nielsen Media Research. This marked the network’s 33rd straight week with an audience that was larger than CNN and MSNBC combined. CNN drew 731.000 in primetime, MSNBC 1.1 million during the week.

The network is making a big footprint in the marketplace. Fox News aired 93 of the top 100 cable news telecasts last week. Among the standouts: “The Five” enjoyed an average audience of 3.6 million, followed by “Tucker Carlson Tonight” with 3.5 million.

Greg Gutfeld, whose late-night talk show “Gutfeld” debuted a year ago Tuesday — enjoyed an audience of 2.6 million — and in the process defeated broadcast network favorites ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live”! (1.7 million) and NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” (1.4 million).

Meanwhile, Fox Nation — the network’s on-demand streaming platform — will present a new special entitled “Who is Hunter Biden?” on Wednesday. Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett and Miranda Devine — author of “Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide” — are among the cast members.

POLL DU JOUR

• 29% of U.S. adults say “challenges to democracy” pose the biggest threat to the U.S.

• 21% overall cite “Russian aggression.”

• 15% cite the “rise of China’s international influence.”

• 13% cite nuclear weapons.

• 10% cite climate change.

• 10% cite cyberattacks.

• 3% had no answer.

SOURCE: An Axios/Momentive Poll of 2,553 U.S. adults conducted March 23-25 and released Tuesday.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.