by GOP official who sent Obama chimpanzee email: 'I am not a racist'
April 19, 2011 | 6:45 am
An Orange County Republican Party official who sent an email that portrays
President Obama's face superimposed on a chimpanzee with the words: "Now you
know why -- No birth certificate!" apologized for her action but insisted
she's not a racist.
The comments of Marilyn Davenport, an elected member of the party's central
committee, marks a turnaround for the official, who over the weekend
described the controversy as "much to-do about nothing."
County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh has called for Davenport to resign, saying
the email was "dripping with racism and is in very poor taste."
"The California Republican Party believes the actions in question are
completely unacceptable," California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del
Beccaro added in a statement Sunday.
In an interview with the OC Weekly on Monday, Davenport said: "I wasn't wise
in sending the email out. I shouldn't have done it. I really wasn't thinking
when I did it. I had poor judgment." She added: I am not a racist, but I do
think I need to apologize again with different words."
In a statement over the weekend, Davenport had said "in no way did I even
consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the
thought never entered my mind until one or two other people tried to make
this about race."