Palin says Trump would 'send warriors to kick IS ass'

Donald Trump would send American “warriors” to “kick ISIS's ass," former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin said on Tuesday as she threw her support behind the controversial Republican presidential contender.

Speaking at a Trump rally, Palin said the billionaire candidate was the man to lead the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, also known as ISIS, which has claimed responsibility for numerous international attacks, including a mass shooting in California last month in which 14 people died.

"Are you ready for a commander in chief who will let our warriors do their job and go kick ISIS's ass?" said Palin, a former governor of Alaska who remains a popular figure among grassroots right-wing Republicans.

Palin, who was John McCain’s running mate against current US President Barack Obama in 2008, also criticised Obama’s leadership over the US’s response to the rise of IS, which has seized control of areas of Syria and Iraq since US troops withdrew from Iraq and the war in Syria broke out in 2011.

Calling Obama a “weak-kneed capitulator in chief,” and addressing an enthusiastic crowd at a campaign rally in Ames, Iowa, she said that under Trump there would be “no more pussyfooting around”.

"The president has to keep us safe economically and militarily," she said. “"He [Trump] knows how to lead the charge. So troops, hang in there because help's on the way."

Palin’s endorsement of Trump was interpreted by some analysts as a snub to Ted Cruz, another conservative candidate she had backed in his campaign to win a Texas senate seat and who is currently running neck-and-neck with Trump in Iowa, a key early battleground in the race for the presidential nomination.

Trump said he was honoured to receive Palin's endorsement.

“She is a friend and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for. I am proud to have her support," he said.

Iowa votes first in the nation in the nomination race on 1 February, followed by New Hampshire eight days later.

Trump, who has no previous political experience, has run a deliberately provocative campaign that has shaken the Republican establishment and propelled him into the lead in national polls.

Current polls give Trump a lead of 13 points over Cruz, with about 33 percent of Republican voters nationally expressing support for his candidacy, with Cruz next best on 20 percent – the biggest gap of the campaign so far.

Trump’s bombastic campaigning, which has included calling for Muslims to be banned from entering the US, has also stoked outrage, with the UK parliament this week discussing a petition calling for the celebrity businessman to be banned from the country.

The US is currently leading an air campaign targeting IS in Syria and Iraq and has conducted more than 7,000 air strikes in the country. It has also deployed special ops forces to Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria to assist rebels there, although the US soldiers are not playing a combat role.