Sarah Palin offers a cold-metal reason why sexual predators “don’t mess with me”

Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) talks to guest before Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a town hall event on April 2, 2016 in Racine, Wisconsin. Candidates are campaigning in Wisconsin ahead of the Tuesday April 5th primary. (Photo by Darren Hauck/Getty Images)

For the past few months, sexual harassment and sexual assault claims against powerful men have dominated the news cycle, it began in Hollywood but has pervaded into Washington where Al Franken stands accused of groping a woman. While there are scores of tales of sexual harassment on the Hill, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said that she hasn’t personally experienced any of those issues, saying “I think a whole lot of people know I’m probably packing so I don’t think there’s a whole lot of people who would necessarily mess with me.”

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Palin was in Washington meeting with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) when she bumped into MSNBC’s Kacie Hunt. The Alaskan told Hunt “I don’t mean to be lighthearted, this is a serious issue,” adding “it really stinks for women in the workplace that for too long, men have thought they can get away with that old-school thinking that it’s okay to belittle and harass women.” She also stated that sexual harassment “is not a partisan issue,” saying “when we see this happening today, I think it leads to a lot of questions about what standards are going to applied and to whom.”

While she supports combating sexual assault, the former lawmaker also warned of being overzealous, noting “the floodgates are really open right now. That could lead to a lot of false accusations that really harm an innocent person.”

Thursday’s news cycle was driven by a radio host’s allegations that Senator Al Franken groped her when they were on a USO tour together. In recalling the incident, the host, Leeann Tweeden, wrote that she “felt disgusted and violated.” The condemnation against Franken was swift, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling for an ethics investigation into the Minnesota senator. In a statement, Franken apologized, saying “I don’t know what was in my head when I took that picture, and it doesn’t matter. There’s no excuse. I look at it now and I feel disgusted with myself. It isn’t funny. It’s completely inappropriate.” He also called for an ethics investigation into his behavior and said “I will gladly cooperate.”

RELATED: Sarah Palin just received some bad news about her lawsuit against The New York Times

Prior to Franken’s scandal, a series of women accused Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexually harassing them and allegations arose that Moore habitually dated teenagers while in his 30s and was even banned from an Alabama mall. In Washington, the hopeful senator was left without any support as the entire GOP leadership and all its heavy-hitters deserted him. Even Ivanka Trump said “I’ve yet to see a valid explanation and I have no reason to doubt the victims’ accounts. There’s a special place in Hell for people who prey on children.”

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