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GOP Official: Sorry About Obama-Chimp Email, But...

...It's not racist, says California party official Marilyn Davenport

By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 18, 2011 4:03 AM CDT | Updated Apr 18, 2011 4:23 AM CDT

(Newser) – A Republican party official from California who emailed an altered Obama "family photo" featuring the president's face copied onto a chimpanzee's body says she is "sorry if my email offended anyone." But she said she never considered it racist, reports the New York Daily News. Marilyn Davenport said she simply was amused by the photo caption—"Now you know why no birth certificate"—and said she didn't connect the ape to Obama being "half-black." In fact, "the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people tried to make this about race," she told the Orange County Weekly.

Many Republican officials have expressed outrage over the email. "It's unbelievable," said a high-ranking Orange County GOP official. "I can't believe it was sent out. I'm not an Obama fan, but how stupid do you have to be to do this?" But Davenport has refused to resign from the Republican Orange County committee. "Oh, come on!" Davenport said. "Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black."

A Republican Party official in Orange County has created a furor after emailing around a joke photo of President Obama as a chimpanzee.
A Republican Party official in Orange County has created a furor after emailing around a "joke" photo of President Obama as a chimpanzee.   (public domain)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 294 comments
yoeydude
Apr 19, 2011 11:19 PM CDT
People on the right dont love ,.... they dont love this country's Ideals ,they dont love our History ,they keep trying to change both , ... they dont love each other , they dont love Themselves , they dont love their enemy ,..... but they do Worship Mannon ,... oh , how they lust after the God of Money ,..... they are afraid too ,... they feel surrounded ,... unjustly demeaned ,.... the victim , always afraid , Paranoid and Hateful ,.. lashing out with vicious abandon ... you can see the evidence here in comments every day ,.. the desperateness in their words ,...... their but for the grace of God go you or I , my brothers and sisters ,.... give thanks for your everlasting mind and feed it every day , have pity on our brothers and sisters whose minds have closed , never cease to reach out , to gently educate and persuade , to commensurate , to reassure , to love ,.... they are of the tribe , and we need them , we lefties love them as our own ,... we are all in the same boat ,... wealth is the Great Divide , the meek shall inherit the Earth
farrahsmiles
Apr 19, 2011 1:33 PM CDT
People on the left love blacks, as long as they stay in line and do what they are told on the liberal plantation. As soon as they stray, and realize they are free to make it on their own, and become conservatives, they are called uncle tom's, and house slaves. Thus, you see the TRUE racism of the liberal mind. These are the most hateful, intolerant, and dangerous human beings in this country. They need to be exposed for who they really are.
farrahsmiles
Apr 19, 2011 1:27 PM CDT
Don't remember any outrage when cartoonists drew Bush as a chimp. Guess it's OK when it's a white republican.

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