Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is usually good for a cringe-worthy quote or two, so no one should be surprised that prior to the Republican presidential debate last week, a CNN host would try to elicit one from her.
During a conversation about “Politics and Faith,” Michael Smerconish mentioned he had begun reading Palin’s book, Sweet Freedom: A Devotional, saying he was only “halfway through.” After she discussed her book, he then announced he was setting her up with a “gotcha” question.
“Could Sarah Palin … vote for an atheist who you believe had a moral compass?” he asked. “Maybe not a moral compass grounded in Scripture, but a person who said, ‘Look, I’m a straight arrow, I lead my life by a moral code, it’s just doesn’t have to be biblically based.'”
She didn’t dodge the question, nor did she point out the false argument about a “moral code” that isn’t biblically based. Instead, she took the question by the horns and gave an answer that is now going viral across the Internet.
“If it all came down to that versus someone who believed in a religion that was hellbent on destroying those that didn’t agree with their religion, who would literally want to kill those—the infidels—who would not say, ‘OK, I’ll go along with you,” then I would,” she said, referencing a hypothetical Islamist candidate, before continuing. “I would, which means anyone who is in any way sympathetic to what’s going on today with these Muslim terrorists, who would crucify children and behead women and stop at nothing to try to destroy us and Israel and our allies, I’d choose the atheist over that.”
Smerconish then simplified her response: “OK, you’re voting for an atheist over an ISIS supporter. I got you that far.”
