Levi Johnston Palin called son Retarded

Levi Johnston, future Playgirl model, continues to be a thorn in the side of Sarah Palin -- former Alaska governor, 2008 vice presidential candidate, and grandmother of his son -- by claiming she referred to her own infant son as "retarded."

In an interview with CBS Early Show anchor Maggie Rodriguez, Johnston reveals Palin repeatedly made jokes about her son Trig, now 18 months old, who has Down syndrome. He claims that when Palin arrived home from work, she'd regularly ask, "Where's my retarded baby?" Johnston claims he was in shock when he first heard it and goes on to say, "I think she was joking, but that doesn't make it right."

Johnston also hints that he has other bombshells about Palin, including possible illegal activities. "If I really wanted to hurt her, I could, very easily. But I'm not gonna do it. I'm not going that far," he tells Rodriguez.

Earlier this year Johnston ended a three-year relationship with Palin's daughter Bristol, who lives with their 10-month-old son, Tripp, in the Palin home in Wasilla, Alaska.

Since breaking up with Bristol, Johnston has appeared in televised interviews on Larry King Live and The Tyra Banks Show and wrote an essay for the October issue Vanity Fair, in which he exposed secrets of Palin's 2008 vice-presidential campaign and life in the Palin household.

Through a statement released by her spokeswoman and posted on the blog Front Row Washington, Palin has responded to Johnston's remarks. "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," Palin said.

Palin also takes aim at CBS for interviewing Johnston, stating "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."

Watch the interview here.