Former Sarah Palin Adviser Says ‘Game Change’ Was ‘True Enough to Make Me Squirm’

One of Sarah Palin’s top advisers said today that HBO’s “Game Change” was “true enough to make me squirm,” despite Palin’s contention that the docudrama about her rise to national stardom during the 2008 presidential campaign was a “false narrative.”

Nicolle Wallace, a Republican strategist and senior adviser to the McCain-Palin 2008 campaign, was one of Palin’s main handlers during that whirlwind presidential campaign four years ago. She is played by Sarah Paulson in the 30-minute HBO film.

“This is a movie about the vast gray area where 99 percent of our politics actually takes place,” Wallace said today on “This Week.” “You’re just feeling your way though a gray area and doing your best and that campaign was one of those instances for me.”


Many of Palin’s other aides, including the treasurer of the pro-Palin Super PAC, have condemned the film, calling it everything from a “false narrative” to “sinful.” To counter that “false narrative,” Sarah PAC put out a video that juxtaposes scenes from “Game Change” with actual clips from the 2008 campaign.

Prior to the film’s debut Saturday night, Palin told Fox News that she was “not concerned about an HBO movie based on a false narrative when there are so many other things to be concerned about.”
The former Alaska governor told ABC News that the film does not matter to her. “I believe my family has the right priorities and knows what really matters,” Palin said in an email. “For instance, our son called from Afghanistan yesterday and he sounded good, and that’s what matters. Being in the good graces of Hollywood’s ‘Team Obama’ isn’t top of my list.”

This is not the first public clash of opinions between Palin and former adviser Wallace, who have had a rather high-profile feud since the campaign ended. Wallace said in October that she based the mentally ill vice-presidential character in her fictional book, “It’s Classified,” off Palin. She told ABC News’ Top Line in October that Palin “seemed deeply troubled” at times during the campaign and that some of her behaviors “concerned me.”

“They concerned a lot of people, and we did have discussions about whether it would be appropriate from someone who seemed to swing from so high to so low, when the pressure of the campaign as placed on her shoulders, would it be appropriate for somebody like that to have to endure the burdens of the vice presidency?” Wallace said in the October interview.