Exclusive-Palin Advisers: 'Unconscionable' Mainstream Press Exploited Thatcher's Death for Smears

Mainstream media publications immediately exploited the passing of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on Monday to again advance their political agendas by falsely smearing former Alaska Gov. and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. 

In a rush to write whatever they could to tarnish both, outlets like Politico and the Washington Post resorted to “reporting” on a fictitious story and an imaginary trip that have already been debunked years ago.

The Post, a publication known for its liberal agenda, immediately “re-upped” the debunked story about Thatcher having snubbed Palin when Chris Cillizza, the editor of “The Fix,” allowed his underling to publish parts of the disproven 2011 report. 

Politico ironically included the story in its article about Thatcher as well, even though the publication debunked the story two years ago. 

In 2011, a left-wing and anti-Thatcher British newspaper, the Guardian, tried to smear Palin by writing a fictitious story, with an anonymous quote, about how Thatcher supposedly snubbed Palin for a meeting that had never even been scheduled, as both camps immediately confirmed. The British newspaper also claimed a Thatcher adviser called Palin “nuts.”  

Rebecca Mansour, a longtime Palin advisor who would have knowledge of all of Palin’s scheduled meetings, told Breitbart News that Palin never had the chance to meet Thatcher.

“Mrs. Thatcher made clear to us through her staff that there was an open invitation to meet, of course, contingent on Mrs. Thatcher’s health, and this was reported in the British media,” Mansour told Breitbart News. “Unfortunately, Governor Palin did not have the opportunity to travel to the UK, and she along with grateful people and nations across the globe mourn Mrs. Thatcher’s loss.”

Doug McMarlin, another Palin advisor, told Breitbart News that it was “unconscionable” that people would use Thatcher’s passing as yet another excuse to attack Palin. 

“It is unconscionable that Politico and others use the passing of such an individual as Margaret Thatcher as an opportunity for an ankle-biting missive,” McMarlin told Breitbart News. “The focus should be on the life and legacy of Prime Minister Thatcher, not on using this occasion to further the agenda of reporters who don’t take the time to research their own stories and create a narrative that only fits their agenda.”

Rich, Curious about this report, I contacted old colleagues in the Thatcher office and got the following denial: “We didn’t say this; we didn’t authorize anyone else to say this; and it doesn’t represent Lady Thatcher’s opinion of Governor Palin.”

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the two ladies will meet. Lady Thatcher has retired from active public life for health reasons and sees very few people outside her circle of friends. My guess is that any final decision would be made on health grounds shortly before such a meeting. But I’m not even sure Governor Palin’s office has approached Lady Thatcher about one.

The bottom line, though, is that Lady Thatcher certainly doesn’t think Sarah Palin is “nuts.” And given the inaccurate abuse she herself has received over the years, the accusation may even recommend the Governor to her.

I have spoken to Lady Thatcher’s Private Office regarding the story, and they confirm that the attack on Sarah Palin definitely did not come from her office, and in no way reflects her views. As a former aide to Margaret Thatcher myself, I can attest that this kind of thinking is entirely alien to her, and that such remarks would never be made by her office. She has always warmly welcomed like-minded figures in the United States, and has in the past met with numerous US presidential candidates and political dignitaries when they have visited London. But at the age of 85 she is now able to receive very few visitors at all.

There was never any snub of Sarah Palin by Lady Thatcher’s office. However, there has been a great deal of mischief-making and unpleasantness from sections of the liberal press in a vain and futile attempt to use Margaret Thatcher’s name to smear a major US politician.

But mainstream publications did not even bother to research these accounts–and what had been reported by their own outlets–in a rush to score political points. 

Thatcher got such treatment from the liberal press as well because she, as Palin wrote, was “at heart a populist taking on the Conservative party’s old guard, who disdainfully referred to her as ‘That Woman.'” Thatcher disdained the elite, referring to them as the “the not so grand grandees,” and the “grocer’s daughter from the back of beyond” broke class barriers not with “powerful patronage,” but with “powerful ideas” that were based on liberty.

As Thatcher famously said, “I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”

This article has been updated.