Sarah Palin criticised by Down’s syndrome actress

The former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, whose son Trig has Down’s syndrome, has been accused by an American actress of carrying the boy around “like a loaf of French bread … looking for sympathy and votes”.

It all began earlier this week when Palin lambasted the makers of the scabrous cartoon Family Guy for “mocking” Trig. In the show’s Valetine’s Day episode, character Chris dates a girl with Down’s syndrome, who remarks off-hand to him: “My dad’s an accountant and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.”

Palin, fresh from a controversy previously reported on The First Post over Rush Limbaugh’s use of the word “retard”, quickly used her Facebook page to criticise the show. In fact, she deputised the task to her daughter Bristol. The line was an “insult” to Trig which proved Family Guy’s creators were “heartless jerks”, said the 19-year-old.

What the Palins may not have realised is that the Down’s syndrome character was voiced by an actress who herself has Down’s, Andrea Fay Friedman. And now she has come out strongly in support of the show, defending her own participation, and in the process making the “French loaf” accusation.

The 39-year-old actress, whose biggest role so far has been on the 1990s TV show Life Goes On, issued this statement:

“My name is Andrea Fay Friedman. I was born with Down syndrome. I played the role of Ellen on the ‘Extra Large Medium’ episode of Family Guy that was broadcast on Valentine's Day. Although they gave me red hair on the show, I am really a blonde. I also wore a red wig for my role in Smudge but I was a blonde in Life Goes On.

“I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line ‘I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska’ was very funny. I think the word is ‘sarcasm’.

“In my family we think laughing is good. My parents raised me to have a sense of humour and to live a normal life. My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.”

Intriguingly, the NYT chose not to publish Friedman’s last sentence. Meanwhile, some US websites have seized the moment to air a January clip of Republican-baiting comic Bill Maher observing that Palin’s job as a commentator on Fox News is “similar to her day job: talking to a baby with Down’s syndrome”. ·