The mayor of a small city in Washington admits he called President Barack Obama “monkey man” and first lady Michelle Obama “gorilla face,” but says he will not resign over the racist comments.
“Gorilla face Michelle, can’t disagree with that,” Patrick Rushing, mayor of Airway Heights, reportedly wrote in a Facebook post. “The woman is not attractive except to monkey man Barack. Check out them ears. LOL.”
The comments led the city council to call for his resignation on Monday.
“When a figurehead makes comments such as these that sets us back and it’s hard to come back from,” police chief and acting city manager Lee Bennett told KXLY, the local ABC station.
However, Rushing insists he will not step down from his role as mayor of the city, which is just outside of Spokane and has a population of nearly 6,500, according to Census data.
“I made a mistake. I owned up to my mistake,” Rushing told the Spokesman-Review. “If I do resign that’s admitting I’m a racist and I’m not.”
He also told local NBC station KHQ that the comments were just “playful back and forth banter that my friends and I do.”
Rushing’s constituents did not find the comments playful.
“Because I’m black, it’s offensive to me because many times blacks have been compared to a gorilla, a monkey. Some type of animal,” Tommy Gilbert told KHQ. “I’m a joking and jovial person but I know when something is acceptable or not and that is not acceptable under any circumstances.”
The Spokesman-Review reports that Rushing told the city council his comments were “completely out of character.” Yet The Pacific Northwest Inlander reports that the mayor has a long history of posting questionable and outright racists comments on Facebook.
The newspaper found what it said were at least 75 posts and reposts, including an image that suggests both the president and his wife should “hang for treason.” Another is a “joke” in which the punchline is the pilot of Air Force One suggesting he could throw them and Oprah Winfrey off the plane while in flight. A number of Rushing’s online posts also attacked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, gays and immigrants.
In some posts, Rushing also claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
I am betting that Jesus is pretty embarrassed over this dude. What a jerk.
I am curious what Mr. Rushing would call himself if he doesn’t consider himself to be a racist? Granted he lives in an area with a limited black population. However, somewhere along the way, one would think that Rushing would learn common courtesy.
According to one of the local area papers, inlander.com, Rushing has the following attributed to him:
Amid the flood of Sugar Smash and Cookie Jam Facebook game notifications, his Facebook timeline contains jokes about Caitlyn Jenner, lesbian sex and the size of Hillary Clinton’s breasts and thighs. He’s posted images defending the Confederate flag, attacking “illegals” and calling Al Sharpton a “race-baiter.” In a post about the Left Behind movie, he warned that the “second coming of Christ” would show Islamists their “god is the wrong one.”
“He’s a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Rushing wrote about Obama in June. “I know, I know the liberals will have a fit over this one.
Shudder! Next thing we know, Rushing will be running for president. He’s got all the moves down. Meanwhile, the town council has called for his resignation. Rushing says he isn’t budging.
Airway Heights, Washington is appears to be a suburb of Spokane, Washington.
If he’s not a racist, he affects a dead-on imitation of one. Whatever uncertainty there is about that point, we can be absolutely sure that he’s both an idiot and a distasteful vulgarian.
@Scout
Amen!