Michelle Obama Called An ‘Ape In Heels’ By US Officials

The first lady of the US, Michelle Obama, has been referred to an “ape in heels” by two US officials.
The director of a state and federal-funded nonprofit in West Virginia has been removed after writing a racist Facebook post which referred to Mrs. Obama as an ape.

Clay County Development Corp. director Pamela Ramsey Taylor wrote the offensive post after Donald Trump was elected president in an exchange that also embroiled the mayor of Clay, a small town near Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina.

“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,” she wrote.

Clay Mayor Beverly Whaling replied to the comment, “Just made my day Pam.”

Taylor later deleted the post, but screenshots of the exchange have been shared widely on social media and critics began calling for the removal of both officials on Sunday night.

A petition calling for them to be fired had garnered more than 84,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning.

Both of the under-fire officials appear to have deleted their Facebook pages. Taylor had earlier posted an apology saying that her message “may be interpreted as racist but was in no way intended to be”.

She said the backlash against her Facebook post “has been a hate crime” against her. Taylor added that she has has received death threats over her comment.
The mayor also apologised in a statement to The Washington Post: “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!