Sarah Palin has denied reports that she cut short her One Nation bus tour, posting on her Facebook page: “Why didn’t anyone tell me? Oh, wait, that’s because it hasn’t been cancelled.” But though Palin said she had been called back to Alaska for jury duty, she was vague about when she would restart the tour: “The next leg of the tour continues when the time comes.”
Palin was responding to a report from Real Clear Politics Wednesday that, despite tentatively scheduled stops in Iowa and South Carolina as part of her “One Nation” bus tour, Palin and her family had returned to Alaska.
In a Facebook post called “*Sigh* Reports of Tour Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated,” Palin wrote Wednesday:
Imagine our surprise when reading media reports today that the “One Nation Tour” has been cancelled. Why didn’t anyone tell me? Oh, wait, that’s because it hasn’t been cancelled. (Good ol’ media… you never cease to amaze!)
Palin characterized the hiatus as marking the “end of the east coast leg of the tour, the summer is long, and I’m looking forward to hitting the open road again.” She added that she had returned to Alaska because she had been summoned for jury duty: “Like most everyone else, even former governors get called up for jury duty.”
But Palin was vague about the details of her jury duty summons — and about when the tour would start again: “The next leg of the tour continues when the time comes. In the meantime, no one should jump to conclusions – certainly not the media with their long track record of getting things wrong or just making things up.”
The bus tour had kicked off over Memorial Day weekend, though Palin and her aides never really announced a formal timeline for it.
When asked if the jury summons would effect Palin’s contract with Fox News at all, Greta Van Susteren told TPM in an e-mail: “I have not spoken to her about it.”
According to Washington Post sources, Palin has also canceled a scheduled trip to Sudan in July. From the Post:
Palin scrapped her visit to the North African country for scheduling reasons, several sources close to her said. She was planning to travel with Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical leader Billy Graham, as well as Fox News personality Greta Van Susteren, to the July 9 independence ceremony of South Sudan, the sources said. Van Susteren also canceled her trip. Graham said on Wednesday that he still plans to go.
Palin spokesman Tim Crawford did not immediately return TPM’s request for more information about the jury summons.
