The mayor of a small city in Washington reportedly admitted that 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.
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.
The city council has threatened sanctions against the mayor if he refuses to resign. The Spokesman-Review said sanctions could include limits on his involvement on boards and commissions.
