A staffer for a Republican congressman resigned Monday
amid public outrage over disparaging comments she made last week about
President Obama’s daughters, proving that there still may be some taboos
in Washington’s ever more rancorous political culture.
Elizabeth
Lauten, the communications director for Rep. Stephen Lee Fincher of
Tennessee, became the latest political operative to lose a job by
misusing social media after she mocked Malia and Sasha Obama on Facebook
for their appearance and demeanor at the president’s annual turkey
pardoning.
What set Lauten’s resignation apart from past
instances in which aides were forced out over social-media lapses was
the speed of her departure and the widespread condemnation of her remarks,
in which she stated that the Obama daughters should try “showing a
little class” and avoid dressing as though they wanted “a spot at a
bar.” Although Lauten apologized on her Facebook page Friday, her
initial posting spread rapidly, propelled by bloggers and Twitter users
who chastised her for a personal attack on the girls, who are minors.
Lauten
confirmed her resignation in an e-mail to The Washington Post on Monday
morning. At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest called it
“pretty much common sense” that personal criticism of the president’s
children should be off-limits.
“I was taken aback that there was a
political operative on Capitol Hill who did use the occasion of a
Thanksgiving-themed event to criticize members of the first family,”
Earnest said during his daily briefing. “She has posted an apology to
her Web site, and I think that was an appropriate thing for her to do.”
