Sunday, February 6th 2011, 3:02 PM

Weiner/APFormer Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara.

Yin DongxunOpposition demonstrators gather at the Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she is skeptical of the true motives of the protesters demonstrating in Cairo.

"We want to be able to trust those who are screaming for democracy there in Egypt, that it is a true sincere desire for freedoms," she told the Christian Broadcasting Network in her first public comments about the two-week-old crisis in Egypt.

"How do we verify what it is that we are being told, what it is that the American public are being fed via media, via the protestors, via the government there in Egypt in order for us to really have some sound information to make wise decisions on what our position is."

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets for the last 13 days, demanding greater freedom and the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for 30 years.

The images brought fear to the hearts of Arab despots and hope to pro-democracy movements in other authoritarian regimes.

But Palin was dubious.

"We need to find out who was behind all of the turmoil and the revolt and the protests so that good decisions can be made in terms of who we will stand by and support," she said.

Palin was especially concerned about the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, the most organized of Egypt's opposition parties, which has been asked to join political talks about the future government.

"Mubarak, he's gone, one way or the other you know, he is not going to be the leader of Egypt, that that's a given, so now the information needs to be gathered and understood as to who it will be that fills now the void in the government. Is it going to be the Muslim Brotherhood?

"We should not stand for that, or with that or by that," she said.

Palin said she was "not real enthused" about President Obama's handling of the crisis, harkening back to the famous 2008 primary campaign commercial branding him unready to handle a crisis.

"This is that 3 a.m. White House phone call and it seems for many of us trying to get that information from our leader in the White House it seems that that call went right to the answering machine," Palin said.

"Nobody yet has explained to the American public what they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak."

She added, "Now, more than ever, we need strength and sound mind there in the White House."

She did not offer what would have done in Obama's place.

In general, Republican politicians talked about for a 2012 presidential run have remained mute on Egypt, while leading GOP lawmakers have been quietly supportive.

The exceptions are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has slammed the Obama administration as clueless about the Muslim Brotherhood, and Mike Huckabee, who criticized Obama for "abandoning a 30-year ally" in Mubarak.

On other topics:

Palin, who has a communications degree from the University of Idaho, said she wanted to use her skills to help out what she calls the "lamestream media."

"I've said this for a couple of years now, I want to help 'em. I want. I have a journalism degree, that is what I studied. I understand that this cornerstone of our democracy is a free press, is sound journalism. I want to help them build back their reputation. And allow Americans to be able to trust what it is that they are reporting," she said, according to a transcript of the exclusive interview with David Brody provided by CBN.

"What would give me great joy is what would become irrelevant is the misreporting that comes out of the mainstream media."

Asked what she would do differently if she jumped into a national campaign again, she said:

"I would continue on the same course of not really caring what other people say about me or worrying about the things that they make up, but having that thick skin and a steel spine."

"I do believe, David, that there are more commonsense conservative Americans on our side on the issues that we stand for, than there are those who oppose the idea of individualism and God-given liberty and opportunity to work hard and to progress according to our own work ethic and our own merits."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/02/06/2011-02-06_sarah_palin_i_dont_trust_we_know_true_motives_of_protesters_in_egypt.html#ixzz1DEoR2k9S