A US mayor has resigned after apparently praising an online comment which described Michelle Obama as an "ape in heels."
Beverly Whaling stepped down as the mayor of Clay in West Virginia after a post under her name appeared on a Facebook post saying the remark "made my day."
It came a day after the director of a local government-funded charity was removed from her position over her Facebook post.
Following last week’s presidential election Pamela Ramsey Taylor, director of the Clay County Development Corp., wrote on Facebook: “It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House.”
Adding: “I’m tired of seeing an Ape in heels.”
According to NBC affiliate WSAZ Ms Whaling, the mayor, replied: “Just made my day Pam.”
The comments have since been deleted from Facebook.
The mayor’s resignation came after more than 150,000 people signed an online petition calling for her to step down.
In a statement to The Washington Post Ms Whaling said: "My comment was not intended to be racist at all. I was referring to my day being made for change in the White House!
“I am truly sorry for any hard feeling this may have caused! Those who know me know that I'm not of any way racist!
"Again, I would like to apologize for this getting out of hand!"
Ms Taylor reportedly issued an apology to WSAZ but argued that responses to her post had turned into “a hate crime against me.”
She said she and her children had received death threats.
