Palin Defends Son After Domestic Violence Charges, Blames Obama for Not Respecting Troops: 'They Come Back a Bit Different

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin responded to the "elephant in the room" during a campaign speech in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Wednesday, taking aim at President Barack Obama for not respecting U.S. combat veterans and what they go through when returning from battles overseas.

Palin's son, Track Palin, was arrested Monday night in Wasilla after his girlfriend said he punched her in the face.

"Let me get a little bit personal on this, I'm talking about not leaving our wounded warriors behind also," Palin said Wednesday at a rally for Donald Trump, who she endorsed Tuesday night in Iowa.

"Our wounded warriors come who home from the battlefield bringing new battles with them," said Palin, who was tapped as Sen. John McCain's running mate in 2008.

"Our wounded warriors sometimes in body and in mind coming back different than when they left for the war zone," she said. "I can talk personally about this, I guess it's kind of the elephant in the room, because my own family going through what we're going through today, with my son, a combat vet having served in a Stryker brigade, fighting for you all, America, in the war zone."

At this point Palin was interrupted by loud cheers from attendees at the event at the Mabee Center.

"But my son, like so many others, they come back a bit different, they come back hardened," Palin said. "They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country, and that starts from the top. It's a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder, if they have to question if they're respected anymore."

Palin pointed to Obama as the source for a lack of respect for combat veterans.

[sharequote="center"]"I can certainly relate with other families who kind of feel these ramifications of some PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with."[/sharequote]

"It starts from the top, the question though that comes from our own president, where they have to look at him and wonder: 'Do you know what we go through? Do you know what we're trying to do to secure America and to secure the freedoms that have been bequeathed us?'" she said. "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 that our soldiers do return with, 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."

Palin argued that if Trump is elected president, he'll have more respect for the troops than Obama does.

"Our vets and you deserve a commander in chief who will respect what it is that our forces go through, and would never leave them behind," she said.

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