West Virginia Official Removed for Racist Michelle Obama Comments to Be Reinstated Before Christmas.
After Donald Trump won the election, Pamela Ramsey Taylor took to Facebook to write, “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.” Clay County Mayor Beverly Whaling replied, “Just made my day Pam.” After outrage, Whaling resigned as mayor and Taylor was removed from her position as the director of nonprofit Clay County Development Corp.
In her apology, Taylor said, that her comment “may be interpreted as racist but was in no way intended to be.” The BBC reports that Clay County’s population is 98 percent white.
The nonprofit, which serves the elderly, is funded partially by state and federal money. After Taylor’s offensive post went viral, West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services state commissioner Robert Roswall warned that “any discrimination of staff or the customers [they] serve” could jeopardize funding. A petition calling for Taylor’s ouster gathered more than 199,000 signatures.
However, Taylor will be returning to her job Dec. 23.
