Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R) is scrambling to save face after forwarding an email to fellow lawmakers that called Michelle Obama “Mrs. YoMama” and compared her to the Grinch.
O’Neal had initially tried to defend his actions, but relented yesterday and apologized to the First Lady:
The email, first reported today by the Lawrence Journal-World, has pictures comparing Mrs. Obama to the Grinch because of their similarly wind-blown hair.
“Sorry, just had to forward this latest holiday message,” O’Neal wrote. “I’ve had worse hair days, but this is pretty funny.”
The forwarded email goes on to state: “I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing Mrs. YoMama a wonderful, long Hawaii Christmas vacaton — at our expense, of course,” the Journal-World reported this afternoon.
A spokeswoman for O’Neal confirmed the email message, saying it was sent from his personal email account to a “select few” members of the House.
In their statement originally justifying the message his office said, “Political cartoons are a part of American culture.” Yesterday O’Neal apologized in tepid terms, saying, “To those I have offended, I am sorry. That was not at all my intent.”
The incident comes just weeks after Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) apologized to the First Lady for saying she had “big butt.”