Carl Paladino's Wishes for 2017: President Obama Dies, First Lady is Sent to Africa

Carl Paladino, a Buffalo real estate developer who served as co-chairman for Donald Trump's campaign in New York State, told the weekly newspaper Artvoice that his greatest wish for 2017 is that President Obama dies of mad cow disease and first lady Michelle Obama is let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe. Paladino is not backing away from the comments, which he says are not about race.

When asked by the Buffalo News whether he did indeed make the remarks, he replied, "Of course I did."

Paladino later issued a lengthy statement to the press claiming that his comments had nothing to do with race.

"That's the typical stance of the press when they can't otherwise defend the acts of the person being attacked," Paladino said in the statement.

>>>Read Paladino's full statement here

The remarks drew wide condemnation from members of the community and from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The Trump transition team has also disavowed the comments.

Paladino serves on the Buffalo School Board and officials and parents are calling on him to resign his post.

The Buffalo PTO issued a statement demanding that he be removed.

Dr. Barbara Nevergold, president of the Buffalo School Board, said at a press conference Friday that she supported the right for people to call for Paladino's removal from the board, the Buffalo News reported.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also issued a statement calling on Paladino to resign.

Governor Cuomo called the remarks, "racist, ugly and reprehensible." Below is the governor's full statement:

"Carl's comments are absolutely reprehensible, and they serve no place in our public discourse," a Trump transition spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to Patch.

Betty A. Rosa, Regent for the Twelfth Judicial District, issued a forceful statement, saying she personally finds it unacceptable that anyone who touches the lives of children to speak in this manner.

Paladino has made controversial and racist statements in the past, once referring to Asian students attending the University of Buffalo as "damn Asians." He has also pushed the falsehood that Obama is a Muslim and when he ran for governor of New York he was accused of sending racist and sexist emails.

Racist comments directed towards the Obamas are also unfortunately not rare. In November, the mayor of a West Virginia town resigned and a non-profit worker was placed on leave for racist comments made towards the first lady. The non-profit worker has since gotten her job back.

Patch has reached out to the Trump Transition Team for comment.

Read Paladino's comments to the Artvoice in full here.

Image Credit: Sheryl J Thomas via Flickr Creative Commons