West Virginia mayor resigns after racist ‘ape in heels’ Michelle Obama FB post

According to CNN, the mayor of Clay, West Virginia has resigned her position and another county official has been fired in the wake of a Facebook exchange that compared First Lady Michelle Obama to an “ape in heels.”

Pamela Taylor, who worked as director of the Clay County Development Corporation, wrote on Facebook: “It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady in the White House. I’m tired of seeing an ape in heels.”

That’s when Mayor Beverly Whaling chimed in, saying, “Just made my day Pam.”

Clay County Commissioner Greg Fitzwater confirmed to CNN that Whaling resigned, but it’s not known if she was terminated or resigned her post.

Whaling issued an apology for her comment to the Washington Post, writing, “My comment was not intended to be racist at all.”

“While we respect Ms. Taylor’s right to free speech, we strongly oppose any form of racism or hate speech,” Joe Murphy, vice chairman of the Clay Democratic Executive Committee, told the West Virginia Gazette-Mail. “We fully support our president and the first lady.”

Featured image: Everipedia/Facebook

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

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