Palins Show Support to Chick-fil-A With Texas Visit

Sarah Palin dropped by a Chick-fil-A in Texas to show her support for the embattled restaurant chain after it drew criticism for its president’s statements in opposition to gay marriage.

Palin tweeted photographs of herself at a Chick-fil-A in "The Woodlands," a suburban community about 35 miles northwest of downtown Houston after appearing at a rally in support of Republican Senate primary challenger Ted Cruz.

One photograph shows the former Republican vice presidential candidate giving a thumbs-up alongside her husband Todd as they both hold Chick-fil-A bags of food. That photograph, which she posted on her Facebook page, generated more than 229,000 “likes” (and counting), was shared more than 17,000 times and tallied more than 18,000 comments.

Sarah and Todd Palin at the Woodland, Texas Chick-fil-A. (Facebook)

Accompanying the photograph, Palin wrote, “Stopped by Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands to support a great business.”

The Chick-fil-A controversy began when the restaurant’s president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press that the company, which puts faith ahead of profits by closing on Sundays, was “guilty as charged” for backing the “biblical definition of a family.”

Another photograph showed Palin with a group of adults and children in the restaurant.  “Great to visit with the Sassy Feet dance squad at the Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands, TX,” Palin wrote accompanying the picture.

One commenter on Palin’s Facebook page wrote, “I'm sure you made their day by posing for photos and taking the time to speak with them. You are a wonderful person with a terrific family,” and another wrote, “I applaud Chick-fil-A and Sarah Palin.”

“The only hate and intolerance I've seen in these comments,” wrote another commenter, “is from those who favor same sex marriage. Apparently we all have a ‘duty’ to believe in the politically correct theme of the moment. Millions of people believe what the Bible says about the institution of marriage.”

Other commenters blasted the former Alaskan governor for supporting the restaurant chain.

At the Cruz rally, Palin spent most of her 20-minute remarks criticizing President Barack Obama and what she called “the permanent political class” in Washington, the Houston Chronicle reported. She called Cruz’s election “a come-to-Jesus moment.”

“There is good news,” she said, according to the Chronicle, “and that is, there is nothing wrong with America that a good, ol’ fair election can’t fix.”

The Chronicle reported that Palin said Cruz is “a proven, common-sense constitutional conservative, and he’s a fighter and he will bring new leadership to the United States Senate. He will shrink government, he will be putting government back on the side of the American working man and he will defend the Constitution.”

“Ted is not going to D.C. to make nice with the foo-foo, chi-chi cocktail crowd,” she said. “He’s going to do the heavy lifting to rein in our out-of-control government.”