“In the wake of David Letterman‘s apology for his joke last week about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin‘s daughter, a number of protesters flocked around the Late Show studios in Midtown Manhattan late Tuesday afternoon (June 16) to show their support for Palin — albeit not in the numbers previously expected,” reports MTV News’ Jett Wells.

“Approximately three dozen protestors stood across the street from the studios, chanting “Dave Must Go! Fire Dave! Shame on CBS!,” and spoke about Letterman’s joke, for which he has twice apologized with Palin accepting his second mea culpa a day or so ago.

“Last week, Letterman joked in his monologue about an ‘awkward moment’ for Palin at a New York Yankees game, when “her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” Letterman did not refer to the daughter by name, though he later claimed he was referring to 18-year-old unwed mother Bristol, not 14-year-old Willow, who actually accompanied her mother to the game.

“‘It’s a disgrace what’s going on in our country today,’said a protestor named Ellen. ‘We wouldn’t do that to Obama’s daughters.’

“Before Palin accepted the apology, it was rumored that nearly 2,000 people would protest outside the em>Late Show studios Tuesday. Some of the Palin supporters who did show up, like Robert Gretczko, said they didn’t think Letterman’s apology was good enough.

“‘It doesn’t matter,’ Gretczko said. ‘Don Imus was still fired for his comments.'”