A GOP staffer issued an apology on Facebook after she called the Malia and Sasha Obama classless for their choice of attire at the national turkey pardoning, sparking social media outrage.
The girls received playful criticism for their sullen facial expressions as their father joked with reporters at the turkey pardoning, but Elizabeth Lauten, a former media director for the Republican National Committee, called the girls classless for wearing short skirts which ’deserve a spot at the bar,’ the Daily Mail reported Saturday.
“Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re part of the First Family, try showing a little class,” Ms. Lauten, the current communications director for Tennessee Rep. Stephen Fincher, wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events,” Ms. Lauten added.
Ms. Lauten also blasted the president and first lady for not showing respect for their positions and said that contributed to the girls “coming up a little short in the ’good role model’ department.”
Ms. Lauten deleted the post after an onslaught of social media backlash, set her profile to private, and posted an apology.
“When I first posted on Facebook I reacted to an article and I quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager,” she wrote. “After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents, and re-reading my words online I can see more clearly just how hurtful my words were.”
This isn’t Ms. Lauten’s first social media gaffe.
In August she posted a tweet about “shagging” from Mr. Fincher’s official Twitter account.
“God I love this song. And beach music. AND shagging #pandora,” Ms. Lauten tweeted in reference to an Embers playlist on Pandora radio.
She later deleted the tweet and apologized for the accident, clarifying that “shagging” is a dance term, not a sexual reference.
“It had nothing to do with Stephen Fincher. I don’t think he knows what Pandora is; he certainly doesn’t have it,” Ms. Lauter said, according to Politico.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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