NEW YORK (AP) — Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin says she accepts talk show host David Letterman's apology for the joke he made about her daughter.

The Alaska governor, in a statement issued Tuesday, said the apology was accepted "on behalf of all young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve."

On his CBS' "Late Show" on Monday night, Letterman said his joke about one of Palin's daughters being "knocked up," meaning gotten pregnant, by Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez can't be defended.

He said the joke referred to 18-year-old mother Bristol Palin, not her 14-year-old sister Willow. But Letterman said it's his responsibility that people believed that he intended to target Willow, who had attended a New York Yankees game with her mother.

"I'm sorry about it, and I'll try to do better in the future," he said.

Letterman last week tried to make light of the joke after the first indications that it had fallen flat. Palin had called the comments "sexually perverted," and her husband, Todd, said that "any jokes about raping my 14-year-old are despicable."

Palin said Tuesday that Letterman has the right to joke about whatever he wants to, and "thankfully we have the right to express our reaction."

"This is all thanks to our U.S. military men and women putting their lives on the line for us to secure America's right to free speech," she said. "In this case, may that right be used to promote equality and respect."

A "Fire David Letterman" protest was held Tuesday outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, where he tapes the show. The turnout was slim, with only about a dozen people turning out.

One of the protesters, New York City real estate agent Tom Muller, said he just wanted "to see a little accountability come to the Letterman show ... And maybe urge him to get back to when he ran a funny TV show and didn't use it for his political pulpit."

Although Bristol, an unwed mother, was the target of his joke, Letterman didn't name her when it was originally made on June 8.

It was "a coarse joke," ''a bad joke," Letterman told viewers. "But I never thought it was (about) anybody other than the older daughter, and before the show, I checked to make sure, in fact, that she is of legal age, 18."

"The joke, really, in and of itself, can't be defended," he declared.

If there's a misconception that he was making the joke about a 14-year-old, Letterman said he understands why people are upset. "I would be upset myself," he said.

"I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke," he said. "It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault that it was misunderstood."

Letterman made several references to the issue during his monologue, introducing himself as "Dave Letterman, good will ambassador." He said he got a call from his mother earlier in the day telling him she was siding with Palin.

When he began a joke about accused swindler Bernard Madoff, whom he called "the most hated man in America," he then amended that to a list of two.

"Me, Bernie Madoff," he said. "He was way out in front until a couple of days ago."

Separately, Palin's supporters are holding a Web-a-thon in hopes of raising more than $500,000 for her legal defense fund.

Palin has said her legal fees while fighting ethics complaints exceed that amount. After settling with the Alaska Personnel Board over a complaint that the state paid for the travel of her children to events, Palin has until June 23 to reimburse Alaska about $10,000 in costs from about 10 trips.

Palin's office said 14 more ethics complaints have been resolved with no findings she has violated the law. Earlier this month an investigator for the personnel board found Palin hadn't violated ethics laws she wore a coat bearing the logo of her husband's sponsor at the start of the Iron Dog snowmobile race last winter. Palin has called such complaints frivolous.

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AP Television Writer Frazier Moore and writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report.

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