Palin made the RW media circuit on the Internets. The Republican media machine is very advanced and far reaching. Trump and allies control the whole thing these days...which is how he controls the Party. If anyone steps out of line, it's not merely his fan base that turns on them...it's the whole conservative AM radio, RW websites, Fox news, Vox news, Oan, NRA, National Enquirer, Sun, Telegraph, NY Post, Daily Mail, Breitbart...and that's before all the parroting on facebook and Twitter. So, yeah, of course the guy heard of Palin. But it's much worse now.