Christine O'Donnell received three prominent endorsements this week in her bid to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate. The news comes as O'Donnell continues to suggest that her Republican rival, Rep. Mike Castle, is gay.

O'Donnell received the backing of the National Rifle Association (NRA), conservative Republican Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The Tea Party Express, O'Donnell's biggest backer, announced that DeMint, chairman of the Senate Conservatives Fund, has endorsed O'Donnell.

The 41-year-old marketing consultant tweeted on Thursday, “Just got Gov. Palin's endorsement! Thank you for your prayers!”

The pile of support comes amid allegations of gay baiting.

In a video posted at Liberty.com, a female newscaster praises O'Donnell, then suggests that her September 14 GOP primary opponent, Rep. Mike Castle, is gay.

“Isn't Mike Castle cheating on his wife with a man?” an unseen voice asks.

“That's the rumor,” the gleeful newscaster responds.

In denying any involvement in the rumor, O'Donnell continued to repeat the claim.

“I think that that's a very tacky approach,” she said last Thursday on WGMD's radio show the Dan Gaffney Show. “I never said that Mike Castle was gay … I don't endorse putting out rumors that Mike Castle is gay.”

And in an interview Thursday on the Mark Levin Show, O'Donnell repeated the suggestion: “You know these are the types of cheap underhanded, unmanly tactics that we've come to expect from Obama's favorite Republican, Mike Castle. You know I released a statement today saying, Mike Castle this is not a bake-off. Get your man pants on.”

O'Donnell is best known for her old-fashioned views about sex. She is the founder of the Saviors Alliance for Lifting the Truth (SALT), a Christian-based group that promotes abstinence. According to O'Donnell, masturbation is wrong, and looking at pornography is equivalent to cheating on your spouse.

Last month, Palin spoke to an anti-gay group in Pennsylvania, and she has previously endorsed anti-gay Karen Handel in her bid to become Georgia's next governor. Handel, who recently said she would “absolutely” consider a bill that prohibits gay and lesbian couples from adopting children, lost her bid for the GOP nomination.