John McCain’s surprise pick of a running mate kept on surprising Monday.
As Republicans were gathering in the Twin Cities, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, released a statement acknowledging that their 17-year-old daughter was five-months pregnant and soon to wed the baby’s father.
McCain campaign officials said they went public with the story after Reuters began following up on rumors on liberal Web sites that Palin’s newborn son wasn’t hers at all.
The claim was that Palin did not give birth to son Trig on April 18, but that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol had the baby and the governor faked her pregnancy as a cover story.
In response, the Palins released a statement acknowledging that their daughter and her new fiancée, identified only as Levi, were expecting a child, and expressing their support.
“Bristol and the young man she will marry 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,” said Sarah and Todd Palin in their statement.
Pro-life leaders and many Republican delegates cheered Bristol Palin’s decision to have the child and expressed support for the family, but the announcement set off a media frenzy in Minnesota.
As senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt walked through the press facilities at the convention, he was swarmed by reporters.
“Life happens,” Schmidt said, explaining that the campaign only released the statement because of the “smears” being circulated.
The McCain campaign has made clear that the soon-to-be nominee knew of the pregnancy when he picked Gov. Palin to be his running mate.
Democratic nominee Barack Obama told reporters to “back off” the Palin family.
“You know my mother had me when she was 18,” Obama told reporters at a Monroe, Mich. Event. “And how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics.”
The revelation was not the only one concerning Palin and her family Monday. The campaign also confirmed that the governor had retained a lawyer to help with an investigation by the state legislature into her firing of the head of Alaska’s public safety commission.
Palin is alleged to have pressured the top commissioner to ax her estranged brother-in-law.
“The problem Republicans have is they are now asking themselves, ‘What’s next?’ ” said Democratic strategist Peter Fenn.
A top Palin aide said the new candidate was “holding up with great equanimity” against “the intense scrutiny of her family within a short period of time.”
The Associated Press and Examiner Associate Editorial Page Editor Quin Hillyer contributed to this report.
