Did Sarah Palin Carry Out the Biggest Hoax in American Political History?
LatestAn interesting footnote has emerged to a theory that raged around the Internet during Sarah Palin’s candidacy for Vice President. The theory is that Sarah Palin is actually the grandmother of her purported son Trig, not the mother, and that she staged a gigantic hoax during the campaign to cover up this fact.
Professor Bradford Scharlott of Northern Kentucky University has looked into this story in detail and written a long academic article about it. He concludes two things: First, that the “conspiracy theory” is likely true—Sarah Palin staged a huge hoax, and, second, the American media is pathetic for not pursuing the story more aggressively.
Scharlott’s article walks through all the evidence supporting the theory, including the photos of Palin in what is said to have been a late-stage pregnancy, the leisurely 20-hour trip home that Palin took after she supposedly went into labor in Texas, the refusal of the hospital where Trig was supposedly born to even confirm that he was born there (let alone who was the mother), strange statements from Palin’s doctor and the McCain campaign, and so on.
And Scharlott concludes that, given that this hoax would be a massive fraud perpetrated on the entire country by a vice-presidential candidate, the media absolutely should have pursued the story more aggressively.
Because the mainstream media did not—and has not—pursued the story at all (let alone aggressively), Professor Scharlott has done some of the work himself. He has also attempted to explain why the media was so wimpy and gullible during the campaign.
One of Professor Scharlott’s theories, interestingly, is that conservatives have been extraordinarily effective at shaming anyone who has even brought up the matter, let alone investigated it. He notes how different this is than the Democrats ability to quell the other conspiracy theory that has obsessed the nation in recent years—the theory that President Obama was born in Kenya.
Given the amount of publicity (and support) presidential candidate Donald Trump has gotten in recent weeks by picking up the Obama-wasn’t-born-here mantra, the silence on this other question is indeed startling. The evidence Scharlott’s cites about about Palin’s possible hoax is by no means conclusive, but it certainly raises as many questions as the logic about Obama’s birthplace.
In light of Scharlott’s evidence that Palin staged a hoax, as well as the ongoing absence of any proof that Palin is actually Trig’s mother, one wonders if the media will now, finally, seek to determine the truth—especially because Palin is considered a candidate for president.
Here’s some of the evidence that Scharlott describes:
The suspicions started with the story the Palins told about how Sarah Palin and her husband behaved after she went into labor while on a trip to Texas. Namely, they took a 20-hour trip home. (Click image to expand)
-
Bari Weiss Got Herself Some 'Beefy' Bodyguards By Audra Heinrichs October 23, 2025 | 5:51pm
-
Which Piece of Stolen Louvre Jewelry Are You, Based on Your Zodiac Sign By Lauren Tousignant October 23, 2025 | 11:26am
-
County Coroner Who Hoarded 'Rotting Corpses' Ruins Halloween for His Community By Lauren Tousignant October 21, 2025 | 5:39pm
-
CBS Staffers 'Won't Be Punished' for Not Responding to Bari Weiss By Audra Heinrichs October 14, 2025 | 5:47pm
-
Kristi Noem Is Trying to Use Airports to Spread Propaganda By Danielle Han October 14, 2025 | 4:15pm
-
Woman Who Became Household Name for Holding Feet to the Fire Can't Handle Heat on Her Own By Audra Heinrichs October 9, 2025 | 4:27pm
-
Take Jezebel's 2025 Reader Survey By Lauren Tousignant October 7, 2025 | 8:00am
-
Weekly Reader: Stories from Across Paste Media By Lauren Tousignant October 3, 2025 | 8:03pm
-
Oh Nothing, Just the President Posting AI Videos About QAnon Conspiracy Theories By Danielle Han September 29, 2025 | 11:58am
-
Trump Admin Makes Yet Another Anti-Women, Anti-Science Move By Danielle Han September 26, 2025 | 12:19pm
-
Elon Musk's Dad Accused of Sexually Abusing Multiple Children and Stepchildren By Audra Heinrichs September 24, 2025 | 4:25pm
-
After a New Round of Epstein Files, Republicans Are Still Crying Hoax By Audra Heinrichs September 9, 2025 | 3:40pm
-
South Korean Women Sue U.S. Military for Decades-Long Role in Sex Trade By Danielle Han September 9, 2025 | 10:24am
-
Team USA Just Shook Up the Women’s Rugby World Cup By Alyssa Mercante September 3, 2025 | 12:23pm
-
Florida Removed the Pulse Memorial Rainbow Crosswalk Under the Guise of 'Safety' By Audra Heinrichs August 23, 2025 | 10:04am
-
JD Vance Had a Busy Week Getting Booed at Shake Shack & Doing Putin Propaganda By Audra Heinrichs August 21, 2025 | 4:53pm
-
Fooled Us All, Our Flannel Queen By Audra Heinrichs August 20, 2025 | 5:15pm
-
Israel Continues to Justify Killing Journalists By Claiming They're Hamas Terrorists By Audra Heinrichs August 11, 2025 | 6:32pm
-
ICE Is Working Hard to Get More of the Worst Americans to Join Its Ranks By Audra Heinrichs August 8, 2025 | 11:22am
-
Stop Betting on Dildos Being Thrown at WNBA Games, You Fucking Creeps By Alyssa Mercante August 7, 2025 | 4:04pm
-
Cool! Diddy Still Doesn't Think He Did Anything Wrong By Audra Heinrichs July 31, 2025 | 3:29pm
-
Another Boat Carrying Life-Saving Aid for Starving Palestinians Was Intercepted by Israel By Audra Heinrichs July 28, 2025 | 3:40pm
-
AFP Says Its Journalists in Gaza Are Starving to Death By Nora Biette-Timmons July 22, 2025 | 2:47pm
-
How Swedish Soccer Fans Are Changing the Face of Hooliganism By Danielle Han July 15, 2025 | 7:51pm
-
American Horror Story: Butthurt Foreigner Wants New Party After Bad Bill, Botched Epstein Claims By Audra Heinrichs July 8, 2025 | 4:18pm
-
Caitlin Clark Exposes the WNBA’s Officiating Problems...Again By Alyssa Mercante June 18, 2025 | 5:24pm
-
Karen Read Found Not Guilty in Nail-Biting Verdict By Audra Heinrichs June 18, 2025 | 4:26pm
-
Targeted Violence Disrupted 'No Kings' Rallies in Virginia, Texas, Utah, and More By Audra Heinrichs June 16, 2025 | 3:51pm
-
Justin Baldoni Threatens to Refile His Countersuit After a Judge Threw It Out By Audra Heinrichs June 10, 2025 | 11:53am
-
Key Trump Court Nominees Claimed Abortion Pills 'Starve Babies to Death' By Kylie Cheung May 29, 2025 | 12:08pm
-
Ms. Rachel Says World Leaders Should 'Be Ashamed' of Silence on Genocide, 'Anti-Palestinian Racism' By Kylie Cheung May 28, 2025 | 11:01am
-
Texas Came Way Too Close to Passing Bill Making It Harder to Challenge Anti-Abortion Laws in Court By Kylie Cheung May 27, 2025 | 11:55am
-
Kristi Noem Is Blocking International Students from Harvard, Accuses School of Being ‘Chinese Communist Party’ By Kylie Cheung May 23, 2025 | 1:15pm
-
Nancy Mace Stays Up ‘All Night’ Programming Bots on Social Media, Ex-Aide Alleges By Kylie Cheung May 22, 2025 | 3:02pm
-
Hmm! Let's See How Many Ways Knicks Fans Can Compare Wednesday Night's Game to 9/11 By Kylie Cheung May 22, 2025 | 1:28pm
-
Rep. Gerry Connolly Dies at 75, the 3rd House Democrat to Die in Office in 3 Months By Kylie Cheung May 21, 2025 | 2:37pm
-
Nancy Mace Maintains Rape, Exploitation Allegations While Sharing Nude Photo of Herself By Kylie Cheung May 21, 2025 | 12:58pm
-
I Hate That Megan Thee Stallion Has to Address Tory Lanez's Lies... *Again* By Kylie Cheung May 20, 2025 | 3:15pm
-
Trump Signed a Bipartisan Deepfake ‘Revenge Porn’ Bill, Which Claims to Offer Victims Greater Protections By Kylie Cheung May 19, 2025 | 5:47pm
-
Suspect Behind Palm Springs Fertility Clinic Bombing Was 'Anti-Natalist' Who Condemned Procreation By Kylie Cheung May 19, 2025 | 1:44pm