Michelle Obama Gorilla Link Made by South Carolina Republican

Michelle Obama is not the first Obama to be linked to a gorilla. But just months after Michelle Obama's husband faced gorilla comparisons in a controversial cartoon, a South Carolina Republican aide linked Michelle Obama to a gorilla in an Internet post Friday,. This time, an escaped gorilla from a Columbia, South Carolina zoo was joked about as being "one of Michelle's ancestors" by South Carolina GOP activist Rusty DePass.

The Michelle Obama gorilla reference was made on Facebook, as Rusty DePass posted a comment in response to a post about the gorilla escape. State Attorney General Henry McMaster made the original post, and DePass commented "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

When the comment was caught by South Carolina blogger Will Folks and distributed around the Web, DePass had to quickly apologize. But he also said he joked about Michelle Obama and a gorilla because the First Lady said we are all descended from apes. However, no news outlet has yet found such a comment from Michelle Obama.

An escaped gorilla already got linked to the Obama family just a few months ago. When "Travis the Chimp" escaped from his home and attacked several people, the New York Post put out a controversial cartoon in which Travis the Chimp was compared to Barack Obama. The resulting fervor sparked the usual cries of racism from Al Sharpton and his followers.

This time, it was Michelle Obama linked to a gorilla escape, and with words, not a cartoon. The actual gorilla, thankfully, was not reported to have gone berserk like Travis the Chimp, however.

Still, Rusty DePass's comments are being used as another example of how South Carolina Republicans - if not all Republicans in general - are out of touch on race. Richland County GOP Chairman Eric Davis, who took over the position from DePass, even said that "the world should move on."

The so-called joke is just getting attention from the national media and the Internet now. But the Michelle Obama gorilla comment still has a long ways to go to become the biggest story about a botched political "joke." That honor still belongs to David Letterman's jokes about Sarah Palin's family, and the media frenzy launched as a result by Palin and her supporters.

DePass's comment was removed from McMaster's Facebook page, and DePass had to take down his own Facebook page over the weekend.

Sources

WIS News 10- "GOP activist says escaped gorilla was 'ancestor' of Michelle Obama" www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp

Simple Thoughts- "GOP activist apologizes after likening Michelle Obama to a gorilla on Facebook" blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/gop-activist-apologizes-after-likening-michelle-obama-to-a-gorilla-on-facebook/

FITSNews- "SC Republicans and Race" www.fitsnews.com/2009/06/13/sc-republicans-and-race/