A Washington mayor is facing pressure to resign after he allegedly posted racist comments on Facebook about President Obama and the first lady.
City Council members have asked Airway Heights Mayor Patrick Rushing to step down.
Rushing is accused of comparing the Obamas to monkeys and gorillas. On his personal Facebook page, Rushing commented:
Gorilla face Michelle, can’t disagree with that. The woman is not attractive except to monkey man Barack. Check out them ears. LOL.
Rushing acknowledged he posted the comments to KHQ reporter Caitlin Rearden.
“It’s just playful back and forth banter that my friends and I do,” Rushing said.
Rushing went a step further in an interview with the The Spokesman Review.
“I made a mistake. I owned up to my mistake,” he told the paper. “If I do resign that’s admitting I’m a racist and I’m not.”
Airway Heights Police Chief and acting City Manager Lee Bennett said the mayor needs to hold himself to a “higher standard.”
“When a figurehead makes comments such as these that sets us back and it’s hard to come back from,” he told TV station KXLY.