Trump supporter who insulted Obamas says it was a ‘mistake’

“I don’t intend to yield to the fanatics among my adversaries. I certainly am not a racist,” he wrote.

Paladino also said for the first time that he never meant to make his comments public. He said they were only intended to go to friends, but he mistakenly hit “reply” on his computer instead of “forward.”

Paladino made no mention of any computer mistakes in a statement he released Friday defending his remarks. In them, he wrote that he hoped in 2017 to see Michelle Obama “return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.”

He told several journalists he sent the comments on purpose, and even signalled that he knew people might find them racially insensitive. In a phone call with the Buffalo News Friday, he mentioned, by name, an editor who is black, and said he “made that comment just for him.”

The comments sparked outrage from many, including Trump’s transition team, which called the developer’s comments “absolutely reprehensible,” and from Paladino’s own son, William, who runs the family’s development firm.

They also prompted at least two petitions, one calling for his removal from the Buffalo school board and the other seeking the removal of his name from a building at St. Bonaventure University, his alma mater and recipient of more than $1 million of his donations.

The board is holding a special meeting Thursday to “discuss board member conduct.” In New York, school board members typically can only be removed by the state education commissioner.

Paladino, 70, has gotten into trouble over emailed material before. During his unsuccessful run for governor in 2010 he apologized for forwarding emails to friends that included racist jokes and pornography.

Chris Carola, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Trump supporter who insulted Obamas says it was a ‘mistake’

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