By SAMUEL GOLDSMITH and CLEMENTE LISI
Last updated: 11:58 am
September 2, 2008
Posted: 3:28 am
September 2, 2008
The unwed, 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin is pregnant - a revelation the Alaska governor made public yesterday to refute rumors spread by liberal bloggers that she'd faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her daughter's earlier one.
Statement on Palin's Pregnancy
GOP Tries to Get Convention Back on Track
"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned," the Palin family said in a written statement.
"As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support."
Palin and her husband, Todd, said that their daughter plans to marry the baby's father - whom sources identified as high-school jock Levi Johnston - and that both "are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."
Johnston, 17, who is entering his senior year at Wasilla HS, plays on the school hockey team and was once teammates on a youth squad with Palin's older brother, Track, 19, now in the Army.
Despite suffering a cracked bone in his shin last season, Johnston scored 24 goals in 24 games.
"We don't want to talk about this," said a woman who answered the phone at the Johnston home.
On a MySpace page subsequently taken down, Johnston boasts, "I'm a f - - -in' redneck" who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.
"But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s- - - and just f - - -in' chillin' I guess."
"Ya f - - - with me I'll kick [your] ass," he added.
He also claims to be "in a relationship," but states, "I don't want kids."
COMMENTS