Phillip Stucky on July 15, 2016 by The Daily Caller News Foundation

Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin will not speak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, despite a personal appeal from Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“She was asked,” Trump said in a Thursday interview with The Washington Examiner. “It’s a little bit difficult because of where she is. We love Sarah. Little bit difficult because of, you know, it’s a long ways away.”

Palin formally endorsed Trump in January, and campaigned with the Republican front-runner in Florida and Oklahoma. Palin was less generous to the Republican nominee in 2012, Palin didn’t speak at the convention, and only endorsed former Republican candidate Mitt Romney the day before the election in November.

Trump and Palin both went after the Black Lives Matter movement in the days after the Dallas attack on law enforcement. “They’re not protesters,” Palin argued. “These are thugs. They’re rioters. And yeah, I’m calling out the media, saying quit claiming that these rioters are peaceful. They’re stomping on our flag, figuratively and literally, shouting death to cops, celebrating violence.”

Trump said about the convention, “I think that in the end we want to get inspiration, We want people to be inspired. We want to make America great again. We want to make America first. And, you know, that’s largely what the theme is and largely what we’re going to be talking about.” Trump added there are a lot of “winners” who will be speaking at the convention.

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