On an Alaska podcast this week, congressional candidate Sarah Palin made an extraordinary accusation. She said talk show host Dan Fagan, who has the top-rated talk show in Alaska on 650 KENI, had a crush on her for many years and that he became a critic of hers after she rebuffed him.
Fagan, on his daily show on Tuesday, took strong exception to that statement, saying it was outlandish. Fagan has been a harsh critic of Palin, focusing on her lies, her calculated political and entertainment careers, and her overall poor understanding of policy.
But having an unrequited crush? That’s what she said on the podcast:
“He was at my home hanging out with me. It’s almost like he had a crush on me for many years … mmmm hmmm????” she said to the podcast host. Then her voice took a different tone: “And then, though, when he was kind of rebuffed … Watch this, this is gonna be the takeaway for Fagan, he kind of turned on me. Boo hoo.”
Listen to the statement here:
It’s a matter of character for Fagan. Palin was accusing him of making overtures toward her when she was a married woman. Todd Palin filed for divorce in 2019 after 31 years of marriage and she is now dating a former NHL hockey player, Ron Duguay.
Fagan has issued a statement:
“Sarah Palin is hyper-ambitious, do-whatever-it-takes-to-win con artist and a serial liar. It’s not surprising she would claim she ‘rebuffed’ my unrequited crush and I ‘turned on her’ as a result,” Fagan said. “I’ve had no romantic feelings for Palin. She knows it. She just made this up to discredit me because I had the audacity to criticize her dismal record as governor.”
Fagan has also been a harsh critic of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, while during Dunleavy’s first run for governor, Fagan had higher hopes for the former school teacher from Wasilla. He has harshly criticized former Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and Assemblyman Chris Constant. He criticizes Sen. Lisa Murkowski routinely, and also expresses his disappointment in Sen. Dan Sullivan at times.
Palin is not the first to make the “he had a crush on me” accusation against a critic. New York Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said that Republicans are “sexually frustrated” and critics “want to date her,” after she was mocked for partying with her boyfriend in Florida without a mask, after supporting mask mandates back in her home state.
Palin is running against Nick Begich, a Republican who had announced he was running for Congress in October. Palin filed on Aril 1, two weeks after the death of Congressman Don Young. Forty-seven other candidates also filed to run for the spot, but the final candidates to finish out Don Young’s term in office are Palin, Begich, and Democrat Mary Peltola, who will appear on the special general election ballot on the reverse side of the regular primary ballot on Aug. 16.
