ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was out campaigning today with Sarah Palin, a day after she endorsed him in Iowa. Today's stop was in Tulsa, Okla. Palin also addressed a difficult situation at home that was hanging over her return to the national spotlight. Here's NPR's Don Gonyea.
DON GONYEA, BYLINE: The day started with a question mark - a morning event in Iowa for Trump and Palin, only she never showed up. The campaign hasn't said why. She was in Oklahoma this afternoon.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SARAH PALIN: I can talk personally about this. I guess it's kind of the elephant in the room.
GONYEA: She's talking about her son's arrest related to an alleged domestic violence incident at Palin's Alaska home. His girlfriend told police on Monday that 26-year-old Track Palin punched her and that she feared he would shoot himself, according to court documents. Track Palin is an Iraq war veteran who enlisted on 9-11-2007. Here's Sarah Palin this afternoon.
PALIN: So when my own son is going through what he goes through coming back, I can certainly relate with other families who kind of feel these ramifications of some PTSD and some of the woundedness (ph) that our soldiers do return with.
GONYEA: It was a personal moment, but that very sentence then became an attack on President Obama.
PALIN: And it makes me realize more than ever it is now or never, for the sake of America's finest, that we have that commander-in-chief who will respect them and honor them.
GONYEA: Palin says Donald Trump is that leader. She then used some of Trump's own colorful language.
PALIN: Our vets deserve a commander-in-chief who will let them do their job and go kick ISIS ass.
(CHEERING)
GONYEA: Palin also heaps scorn on fellow Republicans for not standing up to Obama and for being too willing to play the Washington game once they get elected. She ended by envisioning President Obama's last day in office, one year from today.
PALIN: He's going to be packing up the selfie sticks and packing up the teleprompters and the Greek columns and all that hopey-changey (ph) stuff.
GONYEA: And when he gets back to Chicago, Palin imagined Obama will look up and see a tall building - that city's shining Trump Tower. Don Gonyea, NPR News, Des Moines. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
