CA GOP Member Censured Over Obama Chimp "Joke"

FULLERTON, CA - A Republican Party official in California who sent an e-mail portraying U.S. President Barack Obama as a chimp has been censured, party officials said.

Marilyn Davenport, an elected member of the Orange County GOP's governing Central Committee, was censured by the county's executive committee in a 12-2 vote, the Orange County Register reported.

"She was censured because she knew the e-mail she was sending out was controversial," said county Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh. "After it went out, she downplayed it as a joke. Instead of owning up to her error, she immediately sought to blame others."

In an e-mail apology, Davenport said, "We all know a double standard applies regarding this president. I received plenty of e-mails about George Bush that I didn't particularly like yet there was no 'cry' in the media about them."

Davenport issued a statement in which she seemed contrite and sincere, but things quickly got worse for her, the report said.

In a news conference in her Fullerton driveway Davenport read her, going on to say she wasn't sure if Obama was born in the United States.

Obama was born in Hawaii and last week released his birth certificate.