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Levi Johnston: Palin Offered to Adopt Bristol’s Baby
September 02, 2009 10:51 AM
ABC News’ Jacqueline Klingebiel and Lindsey Ellerson report: Levi Johnston discloses exclusive details about life behind the scenes at the Palin household in an upcoming October issue of Vanity Fair, which is set to hit stands today.
In the exclusive interview, Johnston, who fathered Bristol Palin’s baby, revealed that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin asked the young parents to keep their pregnancy a secret during her unsuccessful bid for the 2008 vice presidency.
“She told me that once Bristol had the baby she and Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything,” Johnston wrote. “Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging—she wouldn’t give up. “
Johnston goes into great lengths describing the Palins' parenting style, saying they didn’t cook or clean and often household chores were left up to the children.
“The kids would do it all themselves: cook, clean, do the laundry, and get ready for school. Most of the time Bristol would help her youngest sister with her homework, and I’d barbecue chicken or steak on the grill,” said Johnston. “Even before the campaign, Bristol was already the mom in the house, and she got tired of having to take care of her siblings.”
In a throw to the controversial exchange during the campaign between CBS’s Katie Couric and Palin about what publications the then-governor read habitually, Johnston also remarked that Palin only reads “once in a blue moon.”
[I] “actually never saw Sarah reading much at all—once in a blue moon, I’d see her reading a book, and I’ve never even seen her read a newspaper in my life. The Frontiersman and the Anchorage Daily News were always there in the morning, but the only one who looked through them was Todd.”
During the campaign and shortly after, Johnston told Vanity Fair that there was a lot of tension in the Palin’s relationship, often fighting and sleeping in separate rooms. Johnston disclosed there was also talk of divorce.
“They’re good on television, but once the cameras would leave they didn’t talk to each other,” Johnston said.
But it was after the elections that Johnston characterized life in the Palin household as rather dismal, saying the then-governor would walk “around the house pouting.” When the McCain camp began accusing her of being the reason the Arizona senator lost the election, Palin would defensively remark, “I brought everything to the table” and “the majority of people were out there voting because of me!”
The aftermath of the election hit Palin hard, said Johnston, and “she definitely thought she was running for president.”
Shortly after, Palin decided to step down from her role as governor of Alaska. Johnston told Vanity Fair Palin would blatantly say, “I want to just take this money and quit being governor.”
September 2, 2009 in GOP, Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain, Obama Agenda | Permalink | Share | User Comments (95)
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What credibility does Levi Johnson have? He certainly isn't a standup guy. Any parent who maligns a child's grandparents or other parent is nothing more than a pathetic individual. He wants his 15 minutes of fame and it looks like the media is milking it for all it is worth. Enough is enough!
Posted by: Downwithsocialism | Sep 2, 2009 10:57:23 AM
Oh yeah! Just when you though his fifteen minutes were up. He must have been hanging around his mother in law to be too long. Smart boy to leave. Hope and pray Bistrol will be ok.
Posted by: jenny | Sep 2, 2009 11:21:00 AM
Article talks about possible divorce and the title is about adoption proposal ????
Posted by: Alex | Sep 2, 2009 11:34:55 AM
Sarah needs to take this chance and start the "American Taliban" or "Christian Identity" party. Then the Republicans will be free from the shackles of the Radical Religious Right whom Reagan allowed to hijack the party platform two generations ago. The AT or CI party can take their chances at the polls and leave the rest of us out of it.
Posted by: P. Getto | Sep 2, 2009 11:41:02 AM
Someone needs to take this punk out behind the woodshed and teach him how to shut his mouth and be a man and a father!
Posted by: Anna | Sep 2, 2009 11:43:04 AM
Wow! ABC just keeps trying to kick the Palins. Isn't there a more newsworthy story to do?
Levi just wants to extend his 15 minutes of fame and you guys oblige so you can paint Sarah as bad. Pathetic.
Posted by: Brad from KY | Sep 2, 2009 11:44:09 AM
Sarah Palin needs to go back to school and learn some History/Geography, lets face it she is realy green on all this
Posted by: marika | Sep 2, 2009 12:21:38 PM
Oh, goodie....more about life with the Palins at the Trailer Court. Maybe Bristol should adopt Sarah's children but then she would be adopting herself. Sarah is a great example of how someone makes a career out of being a political, parasitical "whack job." What a leech on society.
Posted by: Sammy | Sep 2, 2009 12:26:56 PM
ABC needs a proofreader: They alternate between calling Johnston "Johnson" and "Johnston" and they say "the Palin's parenting style..." when it should be "the Palins' parenting style"--possessive plural. A national news outlet should be better than that.
Posted by: minneapolitan61 | Sep 2, 2009 12:30:00 PM
Obama's approval ratings are in the toilet.
Posted by: Julie | Sep 2, 2009 12:41:45 PM
Gee ABC.....get out of the gutter.!
This kid is a tool looking for a buck. His son ( if he ever gets visitation) should be taken away from him!
Posted by: susan | Sep 2, 2009 12:43:28 PM
Sarah is partly to blame for this situation. She is the one that thrust Levi into the spotlight. I'm sure she is wishing now that she hadn't dragged him away from his hunting trip!!! You reap what you sow!!!! I do believe him. I don't think everything is as it appears in the Palin household.
Posted by: akskimo | Sep 2, 2009 12:47:55 PM
Childish comments
Posted by: Ellen | Sep 2, 2009 1:03:37 PM
Sarah Palin's approval ratings were already in the toilet - LONG BEFORE the latest Levi story came out!
Oh, and Trig Palin is not Sarah's child....
Posted by: All of Palin's Kids are Named "PROP" | Sep 2, 2009 1:09:37 PM
Levi is doing some back-talk to get his 15', but he's not the one to judge, as he's unlikely to run for President. The serious question is whether his comments bear intrinsic merit... which of them sound incredulous? Do we really believe Sarah Palin ever read a book, when she can't name a single newspaper on camera? Do we really believe she didn't try to parade her family on TV and got slighted when the dirt came out?
Posted by: badcafe | Sep 2, 2009 1:09:43 PM
I love all the Sarah lovers. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. If she ate her baby they would find an excuse for that too. Really though, who cares about Sarah Palin but these fools, she is yesterdays news.
Posted by: wired-up | Sep 2, 2009 1:13:33 PM
The guy is a bum!!! No one wants to hear from him!No more interviews please
Posted by: lovingpolitics | Sep 2, 2009 1:15:08 PM
This Levi's story somehow reminds me of Mrs. Obama's "This is the first time in my adult life that I am proud of America".
Posted by: young_voter | Sep 2, 2009 1:22:37 PM
So Vanity Fair paid him, not People. My mistake.
Posted by: ruby | Sep 2, 2009 1:22:51 PM
So, ruby, you think Levi "is a punk that will say anthing (sic) for money"?
Funny, that's precisely how I would describe Sarah the Quitter.
Posted by: Joe Sixpack | Sep 2, 2009 1:24:26 PM
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