A West Virginia county worker was fired after penning a racist Facebook post calling first lady Michelle Obama an “ape in heels”.
“It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing a Ape in heels,” posted Clay County Development Corporation’s then director Pamela Ramsey Taylor to Facebook following Donald Trump’s presidential win last week.
Underneath Taylor’s post, Clay’s mayor, Beverly Whaling, voiced her approval: “Just made my day Pam.”
Whaling resigned from her post on Tuesday following a backlash, including a petition calling for her termination that had garnered more than 121,000 signatures as of midday Tuesday after she posted her response to the racist comment, now deleted, about the first lady.
The Clay town council accepted Mayor Whaling’s resignation in a meeting late on Tuesday afternoon and said it would act quickly to name a replacement for the remaining three years of her term.
Council member Jason Hubbard issued a brief statement condemning the “horrific” post and said “racial intolerance isn’t what this community is about”. He apologized on behalf of the town to anyone who was offended, including Michelle Obama.
In a statement to the Washington Post, Whaling said: “My comment was not intended to be racist at all. I was referring to my day being made for change in the White House! I am truly sorry for any hard feeling this may have caused! Those who know me know that I’m not of any way racist! Again, I would like to apologize for this getting out of hand!”
Taylor apologized on Facebook, but both women have now deleted their accounts.
Taylor told local news station WSAZ-3 that the response – including death threats – to her racist comments have become a “hate crime against me” and she is looking to sue people who she says have slandered her.
Neither Taylor nor Whaling could be contacted for comment.
Clay is a county of 10,000 people about an hour’s drive from Charleston, the state’s capital . Donald Trump won 77% of the vote in Clay County.