A Washington state mayor from Spokane is refusing to resign after coming under fire for calling first lady Michelle Obama “Gorilla face” on his Facebook.
The Airway Heights City Council formally asked Mayor Patrick Rushing to step down from his position following the incident, but Rushing is steadfast in his decision to remain at the helm.
“I made a mistake. I owned up to my mistake,” Rushing said. “If I do resign that’s admitting I’m a racist and I’m not,” the Spokesman-Review reported Tuesday. “I will not step down. But I will do everything I can to turn the tide around,” the mayor said, as reported by KHQ-TV, an NBC affiliate in Spokane, Washington.
The Spokesman-Review reports Deputy Mayor Kevin Richey was made aware of the comments on July 10, 2015, and immediately reported them to City Manager Albert Tripp. Rushing’s full comment was reported on Facebook by KHQ saying: “Gorilla face Michelle, can’t disagree with that. The woman is not attractive except to monkey man Barack. Check out them ears. LOL.”
Members of the Airway Heights community were outraged by their mayors comments, calling him racist for suggesting that the president and first lady are sub-humans.
“It’s just playful back and forth banter that my friends and I do,” said Rushing when he was asked to respond to the comments.
staff