California Republican under fire for Obama as 'ape' birther email
Sun. April 17, 2011 12:33 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
photo credit // orange county weekly
Orange County, Calif. -
Long-time Republican Party of Orange County committeewoman Marilyn Davenport is being urged to resign after she sent a birther email depicting President Barack Obama and his parents as apes.
The story was first reported by the OC Weekly.
Davenport's email, sent to "friends" last week, shows the President's face superimposed upon a monkey's face, with the caption: "Now you know why no birth certificate."
Davenport's position with the Orange County Republicans involves fundraising and organizing in California's 72nd Assembly district, encompassing Brea, Fullerton and Placentia. She is also active in the Tea Party.
Davenport told the OC Weekly the whole thing was being blown out of proportion by the "liberal media."
"Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist," she said. "It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people--mostly people I didn't think would be upset by it."
Later, in an email of explanation sent to fellow Republicans, she said the email was "amusing" and the controversy "much ado about nothing."
However, California Republican Party leaders disagreed.
"When I saw that email today I thought it was despicable," Scott Baugh, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, told the OC Weekly. "It is dripping with racism and it does not promote the type of message Orange County Republicans want to deliver to the public."
Two years ago, another Orange County Republican, Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose, ignited a similar controversy with an email depicting a watermelon patch outside the White House.
The story was first reported by the OC Weekly.
Davenport's email, sent to "friends" last week, shows the President's face superimposed upon a monkey's face, with the caption: "Now you know why no birth certificate."
Davenport's position with the Orange County Republicans involves fundraising and organizing in California's 72nd Assembly district, encompassing Brea, Fullerton and Placentia. She is also active in the Tea Party.
Davenport told the OC Weekly the whole thing was being blown out of proportion by the "liberal media."
"Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist," she said. "It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people--mostly people I didn't think would be upset by it."
Later, in an email of explanation sent to fellow Republicans, she said the email was "amusing" and the controversy "much ado about nothing."
However, California Republican Party leaders disagreed.
"When I saw that email today I thought it was despicable," Scott Baugh, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, told the OC Weekly. "It is dripping with racism and it does not promote the type of message Orange County Republicans want to deliver to the public."
Two years ago, another Orange County Republican, Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose, ignited a similar controversy with an email depicting a watermelon patch outside the White House.