Sarah Palin's teenage daughter tries to stop 'white trash' father from seeing baby



It was one of the more sensational stories of the U.S. presidential election when Sarah Palin revealed that her unmarried teenage daughter was pregnant.



Coming just days after her appointment as John McCain's running mate in the battle with Barack Obama, the story threatened to damage Mrs Palin's credibility among religious and conservative Republicans.

In the ensuing media furore, the baby's father, Levi Johnston, 19, was wheeled out at party events to stand by Bristol Palin, 18, and the pair became engaged.



Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston: The pair, pictured holding hands at last year's Republican national convention, have separated after reaching a mutual decision 'a while ago'



Now, however, just two-and-a-half months after the birth of their baby and with Senator McCain's failed election race a distant memory, the couple have announced their separation as Mr Johnston reportedly has little contact with their son, Tripp.



His sister Mercedes told a magazine that after the relationship ended, Miss Palin made it difficult for him to see his son as 'she doesn't want Tripp around "white trash".'

Miss Palin denies the claim and said in statement: 'Unfortunately my family has seen many people say adn to many things to cash in on the Palin name.



'Sometimes greed clouds good judgement.'

In an interview last month, Miss Palin, who was 17 when she became pregnant, said her fiance was a 'hands-on' dad who saw the baby every day.

Mr Johnston, who was pictured at the Republican national convention last year sporting a tattoo on his ring finger that read 'Bristol', said that they had mutually decided 'a while ago' to end their relationship.



The pregnancy was just one of several scandals to hit former model Mrs Palin, 45, during the race for the White House.



The Alaska governor, who has been tipped to run for the presidency in 2012, attracted ridicule for her apparent ignorance of world affairs and was forced to deny claims that she had tried to use her position to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper.

