Sarah Palin Addresses Divorce Rumors, ‘SNL’ & Her Thoughts On Tina Fey In ‘Going Rogue’

In Sarah Palin’s new memoir, “Going Rogue,” the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate weighs in on a number of subjects, from her appearance on “Saturday Night Live” to divorce rumors that dogged her and husband Todd Palin on the campaign trail in 2008.

“That day in sunny Texas when the divorce rumors were rampant in the tabloids, I watched Todd, tanned and shirtless, take the baby from my arms and walk him back to the ranch house so Trig could nap while I made calls,” she wrote, in excerpts from the book (due out on Tuesday, November 17) obtained by NBC News. “Seeing Todd’s blue eyes smiling, I chuckled. ‘Dang,’ I thought. ‘Divorce Todd? Have you seen Todd?’”

In another excerpt, she called Tina Fey – who famously played her on a number of “Saturday Night Live” episodes – “friendly and gracious.”

“Without managers and handlers swarming around… it was just a nice mom moment,” Sarah wrote of their meeting. “The campaign’s ‘Fey Fears’ turned out to be overblown… ‘Believe it or not, I’ve got Republicans in my family,’ Tina said, smiling. ‘Believe it or not,’ I said, ‘I’ve got Democrats in mine.’”

And fellow “SNL” star Amy Poehler, who was pregnant at the time with baby Archie, even compared notes with Sarah’s pregnant daughter, Bristol.

“She and Bristol compared belly sizes and chatted about all the biological details expectant moms swap,” Sarah wrote.

The politician also had kind words for another mom – Hillary Clinton.

“Should Secretary Clinton ever sit down over a cup of coffee, I know that we will fundamentally disagree on many issues, but my hat is off to her hard work on the 2008 campaign trail,” she wrote. “Compared to the guys she squared off against, a lot of her supporters think she proved what Margaret Thatcher proclaimed: ‘If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.’”

However, she heaped less praise on the presidential campaign of her running mate, Sen. John McCain.

“My family was made to look like a herd of hillbillies who had come to the big city and started living high on the hog, and that hurt me for them,” she wrote of the expensive clothes the Palins were reportedly given or loaned by the campaign.

In another excerpt, she bristled at being told what to do after being told to change things up when poll numbers were down.

“You’ve told me how to dress, what to say, who to talk to, a lot of people not to talk to, who my heroes are supposed to be, and we’re still losing. Now you’re going to tell me what to eat?” she wrote.

She also recalled the breaking news of Bristol’s pregnancy hitting the national headlines – from a bathroom.

“I was standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, enjoying the novelty of watching the news at the same time, when a crawl scrolled across the bottom of the screen: ‘Breaking: Vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter, Bristol, is pregnant,’” she wrote. “I nearly gagged on my toothbrush. ‘Oh, God,’ I thought. Here we go.”

And she also remembered the night of the 2008 election – and the concession speech she didn’t get to give.

“‘This isn’t the way it’s supposed to end,’ I thought,” she wrote. “I walked toward the stage with just Todd and some of the kids, with a rolled-up speech in my hands that I wasn’t going to give.”