GOP watch: Palins vs. Letterman
Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009 9:18 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Republicans
Here’s one rule to usually live by -- never pick a fight with a comedian, because it’s rarely a fight you’re going to win.
Indeed, David Letterman last night couldn't help but throw out a few new zingers regarding the controversy he's created with jokes involving Palin and her family, NBC’s Dax Tejera reports. In his opening monologue, the late-night host admitted to being depressed about angering Palin -- so he went out and spent $150,000 on clothes.
Video: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says “Late Night” host David Letterman’s jokes about one of her daughters were “sexually perverted” and “disgusting.” Now Letterman is responding to her comments. NBC’s Norah O’Donnell reports.
After the show's first block and, Tejera adds, Letterman addressed the issue head on by reading a statement from the governor’s husband, Todd, and then a response from Gov. Palin herself. Letterman repeated the jokes that the Palins are upset about, cautioning beforehand this could "very well be my last show." Letterman then said he was not necessarily proud of the jokes and that they were just that -- jokes to get a laugh. "I recognize these are ugly, these are actually ugly, these are borderline, but again, in an act of desperation to get cheap laughs, what I've been doing in the last 30 years." Letterman insisted these were not jokes about Gov. Palin's 14-year-old daughter, citing his record over the years.
"Yes, maybe these are questionable because the girl who actually, uh, excuse me, but was knocked up, is now 18-years-old. So the difference there is 14-years-old and of legal age, okay, now I can't really defend the joke, I agree, unpleasant, ugly, but I would never, never think that it was funny to use a 14-year-old girl as joke like this for God's sake."
Per MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell, Todd Palin released this statement: "Nice attempt by Letterman to draw the heat away from himself; however, Willow was the only one at the Yankees game and the only Palin child included in the photo opportunities with the Giulianis, as was obvious. Regardless of which Palin daughter it was, Bristol, Willow or Piper, these sexually-perverted comments are outside the acceptance of mainstream America."
