Sarah Palin Denies Levi Johnston’s Claim That She Called Her Son ‘Retarded’

First Published: October 29, 2009 5:27 PM EDT Credit: Getty Images, Composed by AccessHollywood.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Caption Sarah Palin/Levi JohnstonSarah Palin and Levi Johnston’s war of words continued on Thursday after the future Playgirl model claimed that the former Governor refered to her infant son as “retarded.”

During an interview on CBS’ “The Early Show” on Wednesday, Levi claimed that he heard Palin refer to son Trig, who has Down syndrome, as “retarded.”

The 19-year-old also claimed to have information that could get her “in trouble and could hurt her,” but said he wasn’t planning on going public with it.

“I’m not gonna go that far,” he said. “You know, I mean, if I really wanted to hurt her, I could very easily. But… I’m not gonna do it.”

The 2008 Vice Presidential candidate responded to Levi’s claims in a statement to Access Hollywood.

“We have purposefully ignored the mean spirited, malicious and untrue attacks on our family. We, like many, are appalled at the inflammatory statements being made or implied. Trig is our ‘blessed little angel’ who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad,” the statement said. “CBS should be ashamed for continually providing a forum to propagate lies. Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies - those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention.”

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