As America celebrates the news of a Clinton grandbaby and speculates as to just how grandmother status will help or hinder former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is instead hoping that an addition to the Clinton dynasty will open the presidential hopeful’s eyes on abortion.
Palin chatted with “Extra’s” Mario Lopez at her home in Wallisa, Alaska, about the headlines dominating the news of late. As Lopez asked Palin if she thought being a grandmother would help Clinton secure a White House win, the former Alaska governor said she hoped it would instead help change her views on abortion.
“Just knowing that her daughter Chelsea is pregnant with a baby — it’s a real baby. It’s not some disposable something — and I know that’s going to be controversial,” Palin said. “But those who, perhaps, they’re in the position now as a parent or a grandparent, they realize that sanctity of life, how innocent, how precious it is. And of all places, it should be in the womb that these babies are protected. So maybe even on social issues like that she’ll open her eyes.”
The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee also said she hopes being a grandmother will influence Clinton’s views on government spending and the growing national debt.
“I think it will kind of broaden her world view,” Palin said. “I think anyone who is a grandparent really starts looking further down the road. We start looking at things like $17-trillion debt that our nation is under. We’re going to hand that to our grandkids to pay off for our short-sided thinking and spending today. That’s not right, that’s not fair to our grandkids.”
