Mendham Official Sorry For Post Comparing Immigrants To Raccoons

MENDHAM TWP, NJ — Mendham Township deputy Mayor Rick Blood apologized for sharing a now-deleted Facebook post that compared immigrants to raccoons and President Trump to an exterminator. Blood, a Republican, shared the post Sunday morning, which explained why people would support Trump by comparing Trump to an exterminator hired to rid a home of raccoons (you can read the since-deleted post below).

Blood did not write the post himself; the text was a copy-and-paste that has been circulating among Republicans online since at least early 2016.

In an apology posted Sunday night, Blood said his intention was "to illustrate, however poorly, one of the reasons our President was elected."

UPDATE, Feb. 13, 7:51 a.m.: Rick Blood has resigned. Read the full story here.

"Yes this post will be construed as offensive to some, however it was not its intent. It is out in the public sphere and as such it is likely to exist in the digital world for quite a while. I apologize for the post. There are those who will take advantage of this post to support their own position unfortunately on both sides of the issue," he wrote (scroll down for the full apology).

Blood was appointed to the Mendham Township Committee to fill a vacancy after losing in the general election to Democrat Amalia Duarte in an upset. He was named deputy mayor in January.

The apology was not enough for some constituents, while others praised the deputy mayor for admitting a mistake.

"That is what is called a non apology apology and you clearly still don't understand why it was so offensive. Human beings are human beings, not filthy raccoons, no matter the color of their skin," a resident replied to his apology post.

"It takes a lot to retract and apologize for a mistaken post on FB. No one expects your opposition to let you off the hook, and by the above comments, it is easily determined that some people never lay down the partisan flag," wrote another in support of Blood.

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