Sarah Palin, holding her youngest son Trig, who has Down syndrome, is pictured in November on her book tour in Michigan. Sarah Palin, holding her youngest son Trig, who has Down syndrome, is pictured in November on her book tour in Michigan. (Grand Rapids Press, Rex Larsen/Associated Press)

Former U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has blasted the creators of the animated series Family Guy as "heartless jerks" for an episode featuring a character with Down syndrome.

The episode has a female Down syndrome character saying, "My mom's the former governor of Alaska."

Palin, who resigned last year as the governor of Alaska, has a 22-month-old son with Down syndrome.

Family Guy is shown on the Fox network, where Palin now serves as a commentator for Fox News.

In a posting on Facebook, Palin said the episode was a disappointment and "another kick in the gut."

However, she refrained from speaking at length about it and instead left the public commentary to her 19-year-old daughter Bristol.

"People with special needs face challenges that many of us will never confront and yet they are some of the kindest and most loving people you'll ever meet," Bristol Palin wrote in a statement on her mother's Facebook page.

"Why could anyone want to make their lives more difficult by mocking them?… If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed."