ALASKA GOVERNOR Sarah Palin has denounced aides to John McCain who criticised her knowledge of foreign affairs and her expensive wardrobe, calling them "jerks" who were too cowardly to speak publicly.
The former Republican vice- presidential nominee told repor-ters in Anchorage that a recent Fox News report - citing unnamed campaign sources as saying she did not know Africa was a continent and could not name countries involved in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) - was false, and that her comments were taken out of context.
"If there are allegations based on questions or comments that I made in debate prep about Nafta, and about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context," Mrs Palin said. "That's cruel. It's mean-spirited. It's immature. It's unprofessional, and those guys are jerks if they came away with it, taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news. It's not fair, and it's not right."
The governor, who is being touted by some conservatives as a prospective candidate for the presidency in 2010, has been derided by unnamed McCain staff ever since their candidate was defeated on Tuesday. Some have said that as much as $30,000 (€23,500) in clothing was purchased for Mrs Palin after the Republican convention in September. That would be in addition to the $150,000 in wardrobe purchases made for the Palins by the Republican National Committee and reported last month.
McCain staffers claimed the Palin camp kept Mr McCain in the dark about the $150,000 expenditure because they knew he would be offended, and alleged she pressurised junior staff to put thousands of dollars worth of her bills on their credit cards. One McCain staffer said the Palin family were "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus [an upmarket clothes retailer] from coast to coast".
But the governor, angered by the sniping, said the Republican National Committee paid for the designer clothes. "Those are the RNC's clothes. They're not my clothes," she said. "I never asked for anything more than a Diet Dr Pepper [cola] once in a while."
There have also been reports of a distant relationship between McCain and his running mate, but this was rejected by Meghan Stapleton, an aide to the governor. "This is so unfortunate and, quite honestly, sickening," she said.
"The accusations we are hearing and reading are not true."